On 18 March, 1946 in Belgrade, the capital of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPRY), representatives of the USSR and Switzerland exchanged letters on the restoration of diplomatic relations between the states.
Diplomatic contacts between the Swiss Confederation and Soviet Russia began in early 1918 with Yan Berzin's mission in Switzerland. However, on 12 November 1918, Berzin and his assistants were expelled from Switzerland on charges of revolutionary propaganda.
On 10 May, 1923 at the international conference in Lausanne, Soviet envoy Vatslav Vorovsky was shot in the back of his head by Maurice Conradi, a Swiss citizen and former White officer. On 20 June 1923, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR issued the “Decree on Boycott Against Switzerland” that severed diplomatic relations.
The only exception was the Trade Agreement between the two countries that had been in force from 24 February to 22 June, 1941. Under the agreement, Soviet goods were supplied to the Confederation for a total of 50 million Swiss francs.
In June 1945, Soviet media accused Switzerland of mistreating former Soviet prisoners who were in camps for displaced persons in Switzerland. According to the USSR, the Swiss prevented Soviet servicemen from returning to their homeland. In response, Swiss Foreign Minister Max Petitpierre (later elected three times to the post of the federal president) invited the Soviet delegation to check the facts. On 27 June, 1945 the Soviet delegation led by General Alexander Vikhorev arrived in Switzerland, and from 11 to 30 August 7,097 people returned to the USSR through Austria.
In September, 1945 Eduard Zellweger, Swiss envoy to Belgrade, reported to Max Petitpierre on the good relations he had with Ivan Sadchikov, Soviet ambassador to Yugoslavia. The Swiss Foreign Ministry expressed regret in a special note for the lack of diplomatic relations with Moscow. On 18 March 1946, representatives of the USSR and Switzerland exchanged letters in Belgrade on the restoration of diplomatic relations at the mission level. On 30 April 1946, Colonel Hermann Flückiger was appointed head of the Swiss diplomatic mission in Moscow.
The USSR mission in Switzerland was transformed into an embassy only in 1955, and the Swiss mission in the USSR became an embassy in 1957.
Source:
The newspaper “Pravda”, No. 67 (10149) from 20 March 1946
