The Last Card

Micheline Calmy-Rey will arrive in Washington on Friday to a tense atmosphere still soured by the revelations of another guilty plea by a UBS customer.

Will Hillary Clinton make a call to the U.S. District Judge Alan Gold? In the saga that has become the UBS case, the Miami courts will not resume proceedings until next Friday. This is the same day that Micheline Calmy-Rey will be in Washington to hold talks with the secretary of state.

It has been ages since this issue lost the feel of a simple dispute between a private firm and U.S. tax authorities and turned into a state affair. Nevertheless, while passing the buck from the department of the treasury to the department of justice and henceforth to the department of state, Obama’s administration pretends not to notice. It does not pay attention to deadlines and pursues the proceedings to deliberately annoy the Swiss while courteously welcoming its political officials. UBS decided to violate the American law “in a systematic and deliberate way.” Everything else is a non-essential consideration.

The strategy of carrying on the war behind delicate appearances is more damaging to Switzerland, since its dirty laundry is being aired. If proven, the revelations of Jeffrey Chernik, the American who pleaded guilty to bribing Swiss bankers disguised as tourists and senior civil servants, a less-than-stellar image will be confirmed. The U.S. administration now has something to prove that its strategy is the right one.

Micheline Calmy-Rey is the last card in Bern’s hand. From the Near East where Switzerland continues to play an active role in the representation of American interests in Cuba and Iran, the confederation plays a more diplomatic role than any other federal advisor. Passing through America, they admittedly reminded the U.S. administration of this, but this time they must remind the right people. With any luck, Hillary Clinton did not have time to read the disconcerting confessions of Jeffrey Chernick…