The Embassy of Switzerland in Sri Lanka in a diplomatic note to the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Switzerland attaches great importance to its relationship with Sri Lanka.
The note said it availed itself the opportunity to renew to the Sri Lankan government the assurance of its highest consideration. “Sri Lanka and Switzerland have maintained excellent relations for decades and have engaged in substantial cooperation in a variety of fields, to the benefit of both countries and its populations,” the Embassy said.
“In the last few weeks, this relationship was marred by misunderstandings surrounding an incident involving a local staff member of the embassy.”
The Embassy stated that when the local staff member was subsequently taken into custody, uncorroborated facts were available in the public domain, which ‘put an unnecessary strain on the otherwise cordial relationship between both countries.”
“The embassy regrets that these developments have led to the Sri Lankan authorities commitment to due process being called into question and reaffirms that Switzerland like Sri Lanka is committed to upholding good governance and the rule of law.” The communiqué further stated that the embassy in Sri Lanka hopes for a swift return to an environment conducive to resuming the positive cooperation between Switzerland and Sri Lanka.
“Recognizing the local staffer is subject to local laws the embassy is convinced that both sides will remain attentive to the working conditions and well-being of all staff of diplomatic missions.”
The embassy said that it recalls it is the responsibility of any government to protect the diplomatic mission of other states on its territory.