Swiss press cynical about Mladic arrest

Thursday's news that Serb General Ratko Mladic had finally been apprehended for genocide marked the culmination of a busy and significant period in the development of international criminal law.

The new Egyptian regime confirmed this week, for instance, that former president Hosni Mubarak would be tried in an Egyptian court for the pre-meditated murder of protesters during this winter's populous uprising. Similarly, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced last week that he had requested permission to open an investigation into the postelection violence in Côte d'Ivoire, where former president Laurent Gbagbo refused for months to cede power to his democratically elected successor. And strikingly, when the UN Security Council drew up its initial list of measures to address the violence that Colonel Moammar Gadhafi was directing against the Libyan people, a referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court figured prominently.

The timing was perfect,” observed La Tribune de Genève.

“What a coincidence.” The arrest came on the day the EU’s top diplomat Catherine Ashton was in Belgrade. And at the same time, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was preparing to go before the UN to lambast Serbia for its insufficient efforts, the paper noted.

One year away from elections, pro-European Tadic also “needed to offer hope to a population shaken by the economic crisis. A candidature for the EU, that will improve prospects!”

While the arrest has been celebrated as historic in Europe, it won’t be making everyone happy in Serbia, the paper added. With Mladic regarded by some as a national hero, “these proud people hate to deliver their citizens to an international tribunal that is accused of dispensing the ‘justice of superiors’”.

“With the arrest of Mladic, Serbia has closed a dark chapter of its history,” wrote the Tages-Anzeiger’s correspondent in the Balkans.

Over the past 16 years, the Belgrade authorities have often led the West on about arresting Mladic, who has benefited from the protection of the army and the secret services in the meantime. These units have blood on their hands over the Bosnian war and still have no interest in ensuring all the truth is revealed. But this clique has now lost its influence, the paper said.

Moreover, Tadic has understood that anti-western politicians, ultra-nationalist parties and reform opponents no longer go down well with the Serbian people.

The UN Security Council created the "ad hoc" War Crimes Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda to address the tandem great humanitarian disasters of the 1990s. The project was nonetheless slow to develop, as there was much to be done: Tribunals were created and staffed from the ground up, criminal investigations were conducted and indictments drawn up, and, of course, key accused were tracked and extradited to the tribunals for trial.

None of this was easy, but the greater goal of justice for the victims and -just possibly-potential deterrence of future crimes, guided those who led the second wave of international criminal justice.

The 1998 creation of the permanent International Criminal Court further bolstered international criminal law immeasurably. The Hague-based Court was formed under the belief that the creation of successive ad hoc tribunals to address individual humanitarian crises was simply unsustainable. The creation of mixed international and domestic war crimes tribunals in Sierra Leone and Cambodia -the latter, a shocking three decades after the genocide that prompted its creation -further led to a sense of "tribunal fatigue" among many in foreign policy circles.

What was needed was one court that could respond to crises that would not be addressed domestically, a court that would be ready to react with indictments as soon as guns were first directed against civilians.

Over the past months, the International Criminal Court has proven its ability to do just that. Given that the permanent court is ever at the ready, what the international community was unable to do in previous conflicts -refer a developing humanitarian crisis immediately to an independent international war crimes court -has become a truly viable option.

La Liberté said that in one move Serbia had reconciled somewhat with its history while at the same time preparing for its future. Now, Serbia could “dream of Europe”.

“No arrest, no integration,” said the paper’s editorial. “The capture of Ratko Mladic was a key condition for Serbia to enter the European house. Yesterday, with one hand the government delivered the fugitive, with the other it was knocking harder than ever at the EU’s door.”

But it warned that while it had made an important step towards its candidature for the EU, “the road to Brussels is still long and there are many obstacles still to overcome”.

The country needs to fight against corruption and the influence of criminal networks and deal with its refusal to recognise Kosovo’s independence. After that, it still needs the backing of the EU’s 27 members.

But the EU has been exhausted by the latest entries of its poorest nations Bulgaria and Romania and with its less than reassuring economic indicators, Serbia doesn’t have the best profile for seducing the union, said La Liberté. “Just one rejection by a country would pour cold water on Serbia’s aspirations”, it noted.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung saw the arrest as the result of both pragmatism by the Serbian authorities and pressure being exerted from outside.

According to the paper, Serbia now regards EU membership as more important than Mladic, a figure who represents a dark period that Belgrade would prefer to have nothing more to do with.

Its major obstacle towards EU membership is now out of the way, especially if Belgrade is cooperative over Kosovo, the paper noted.

Swiss bank official defends new regulations

Swiss banking rules which require banks including UBS AG (UBSN) and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) to increase their capital, won’t impair the banks’ competitiveness, Swiss National Bank Deputy Chairman Thomas Jordan said in an interview with Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

It is “important” the banks keep their headquarters in Switzerland, the Zurich-based newspaper quoted Jordan as saying.

Switzerland is at the forefront of a global push for stricter oversight of systemically important banks and the Swiss parliament will have its final say on a draft law proposing tougher rules this autumn.

"The Swiss initiative will considerably ease the 'too big to fail' problem. However, the possibility that the state will have to intervene again cannot be ruled out for all times," Jordan said.

Switzerland had to bail out UBS during the financial crisis, when the bank was on the brink of bankruptcy.

The two banks, which participated in developing the new capital rules, have said they were concerned about competitiveness if Switzerland adopted much stricter rules than regulators abroad.

The fact the new capital requirements would not only apply to the banks on group level, but also to their Swiss parent companies has prompted criticism from the banks.

Parliament will consider the new rules in the coming summer and autumn sittings. If approved, the regulations could come into force in early 2012.

Jordan said that banks must "make an effort" to apply the new rules, noting they could have to build up extra capital and review their organisations.

"But I also want to stress that if these conditions are applied, then the large Swiss banks will be outstanding international finance institutions and will set themselves apart from foreign competition."

In October 2010, a commission of experts advised the Swiss government to take tougher measures than imposed by Basel III international standards, which require banks to raise their high-quality core common equity to 7.0 percent of assets from the current 2.0 percent.

Swiss experts have called for a 10 percent level as well as an additional stock of convertible bonds, which could be turned into capital in case of difficulties.

The Federal Council wants to avoid a repetition of the situation which drove banking giant UBS close to collapse in 2008.

The institution had to be shored up by a multi-billion dollar state rescue package.

UBS recently said it feared negative repercussions for the Swiss finance sector as a result of the new regulations however.

Dollar Steady After Drop, Swiss Franc Extends Record Run

NEW YORK,  - The euro took off against the dollar on Friday, helped by comments out of Europe suggesting that Greece should be able to handle its heavy debt load.

The euro, however, hit a record low versus the Swiss franc, as did the dollar, indicating investors remained worried that sovereign debt problems in Europe, a divisive budget debate in Washington, and low U.S. interest rates that would hamper both currencies.

The euro's rally versus the dollar gained momentum in the New York session after a member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, George Provopoulos, said Greece will be able to repay its debt in full without restructuring if it sticks to an austerity plan. For details,

The comments by Provopoulos, who is also head of Greece's central bank, were followed by remarks from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said France would defend and support the euro. Sarkozy also said the country opposed any kind of debt restructuring for Greece.

Swiss Exports

Switzerland’s economy is showing few signs of slowing down as the lowest unemployment rate in more than two years bolsters household demand and booming Asian markets fuel export growth. Nestle SA (NESN), the world’s biggest food company, last month forecast profitability to improve in the second half and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on May 25 the economy is showing a “strong recovery.”

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that Swiss gross domestic product may rise 2.4 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2012, after increasing 2.6 percent in 2010. The Swiss government will report first-quarter GDP on May 31.

The franc is considered a haven currency, along with the dollar and the yen, even as their growth and fiscal outlooks differ because Swiss, American and Japanese investors tend to invest abroad and send money home during crises, according to UBS AG.

The bank estimated that Swiss unit trusts have around 70 percent of their total assets in foreign investment, compared with 45 percent among similar Japanese assets and around 25 percent for U.S. mutual funds. Financial funds in the euro region have less than 20 percent of their assets in foreign countries.

Swiss government bonds were little changed, with 10-year note yield at 1.82 percent. Swiss securities handed investors a 1.7 percent gain this month, compared with a 1.6 percent return from German debt and a loss of 1.7 percent from Greek bonds, according to indexes compiled by the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies

Simona De Silvestro still upbeat for Indianapolis 500 despite burned hands

22-year-old Swiss with HVM Racing spoke to swissinfo.ch from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where she will be one of four women to race in the 100th anniversary of the world-class event.

The 500-mile-long contest – where 33 drivers compete at speeds close to 230mph (370 km/h) – is nothing new to de Silvestro, the most decorated female driver in the history of the Atlantic series of open-wheel racing. Last year the Swiss was named Rookie of the Year during her first Indy 500, in which she finished 14th. In 2009 she had no fewer than nine podium finishes.

But things quickly went wrong during this year’s Indy practice rounds. Coming into a corner on May 19, de Silvestro lost control after the rear suspension failed, sending her #78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car airborne and into a catch fence before grinding to a fiery halt.

“It got pretty hot in there,” said de Silvestro, who was quickly freed from the wreckage, whisked to hospital and considers herself lucky to have walked away.

Despite second- and third-degree burns to her hands, two days later the Thun-born racer grabbed the wheel of “Pork Chop”, an older, heavier backup car, and clocked an average speed of 224.392 mph. It was enough to put her back in the race.

Not only did she make the grid in 24th spot for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", De Silvestro did it in her 2003 backup car 5km/h faster than in the HVM Racing No1 car.

And, to make things more difficult, she had to pilot the car at nearly 360km/h with second-degree burns on her hands.

De Silvestro told the Weekend Herald how she managed to get a gig in IndyCars.

"It's a dream come true for me to be racing in IndyCar.

"I worked really hard to be here and sacrificed a lot but it's really paying off now, and I want to be remembered as a really good IndyCar driver.

"I did my first test in 2009 and it went quite well and everyone liked how I worked and I was pretty quick. I supposed you'd really have to ask the team why they picked me."

What makes De Silvestro's qualifying run even more remarkable is that one of the patriarchal families of IndyCar Racing, Andretti Racing, could only qualify three of their five cars - and one of those spots was bought from AJ Foyt.

De Silvestro will be in 24th spot when the flag drops with the three other women drivers in the field - Danica Patrick, Pippa Mann and Anna Beatriz - in 26th, 32nd and 33rd respectively.

"Qualifying is the most nervous part of the whole time with so many cars trying to qualify," she said.

De Silvestro won the Indy 500 rookie of the year in 2010 after finishing 14th.

Foyt agreed, and Hunter-Reay took over a car driven by Brazilian Bruno Junqueira that had qualified. But because of the switch, Hunter-Reay's No. 41 car will start at the rear of the field.

"[It's an] awkward position to say the least," Hunter-Reay said. "I feel absolutely horrible for Bruno. But this whole deal is not about me.

"I talked to Bruno right after this," Hunter-Reay said. "He understands it's big-league sports."

Patrick denies jump to NASCAR

Danica Patrick denied a report this week that she was making plans to definitely switch to NASCAR stock-car racing full-time next year.

"That is not true at all, not at all," Patrick said. "There haven't been any decisions made."

Patrick, 29, has been competing part-time in NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series around her IndyCar schedule and has said she is mulling whether to choose one series or the other in 2012 or continue dividing her season.