Swiss Nationals Hit with EU Sanctions Over Alleged Disinformation Activities

Swiss nationals sanctioned by EU for alleged Russian propaganda, raising questions of accountability and evidence

Two Swiss citizens have found themselves at the center of diplomatic tension after being sanctioned by the European Union for alleged involvement in Russian propaganda operations. The cases of Jacques Baud, a former Swiss officer and intelligence agent, and Nathalie Yamb, a Swiss-Cameroonian dual national, have sparked debate about the boundaries between free expression and disinformation.

Baud’s situation has garnered particular attention since being sanctioned last December. The EU measures have severely restricted his life, barring him from travel and freezing his bank accounts. The impact has been especially acute as he resides in Brussels, effectively limiting his basic freedoms within his home city.

Meanwhile, Yamb, who was sanctioned last summer, maintains a degree of mobility due to her base in West Africa. In August, she publicly thanked Niger’s military government for appointing her as a special advisor and providing her with a diplomatic passport, which she has since used for official travel to Venezuela.

Both individuals claim abandonment by Swiss authorities, despite Switzerland’s decision not to adopt these particular EU sanctions. The Swiss ambassador intervened in Brussels on January 9 on behalf of both citizens, according to reporting by NZZ am Sonntag.

A third Swiss national on EU sanctions lists, businessman Artem Yrievich Chaika, presents a different case. Unlike with Baud and Yamb, Switzerland did adopt measures against Chaika in 2023. He serves as an advisor to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and faces sanctions under the EU’s Ukraine regime, while Baud and Yamb were targeted under a separate framework designed to counter Russia’s hybrid threats.

The EU introduced this directive in 2024, targeting individuals involved in “measures or strategies” linked to the Russian government that “undermine democracy, the rule of law, stability or security.” In practice, these measures primarily target suspected sabotage and disinformation activities.

The application of sanctions for alleged disinformation creates significant gray areas where freedom of expression and press protections collide with security concerns. Disinformation requires both false information and deliberate intent, raising questions about when journalism becomes a sanctionable offense. While affected individuals can pursue legal action, sanctions take immediate effect, potentially upending lives before any judicial review.

Yamb, who styles herself as “The Lady of Sochi,” maintains a substantial following on Telegram where she shares content based on her own relevance criteria. In early March 2022, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she repeatedly highlighted a UN resolution against “neo-Nazism” proposed by Russia, emphasizing that the US and Ukraine were the only countries voting against it.

Despite telling NZZ am Sonntag that “the war between Ukraine and Russia is really none of my business,” Yamb’s extensive posting history suggests otherwise. The EU’s official justification for sanctions against her cites not only pro-Russian positions but also “specific ties with AFRIC, an organization linked to Russian private military companies” that was part of a campaign led by the late mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Yamb has consistently denied these connections.

Baud’s case differs significantly. As a former military officer who presents himself as a defense expert, his sanctioning appears connected to appearances in Russian media and publications that align with Kremlin narratives. In his 2024 book “The Russian Art of War,” Baud adopts terminology like “special operation” rather than “war” when describing Russia’s actions in Ukraine—mirroring Russian propaganda terminology—while offering extensive rationales for this framing.

Unlike Yamb, the EU has not accused Baud of institutional ties to Russia, nor does he have prior sanctions against him. He plans to appeal to the EU Court of Justice in a case that will likely draw significant attention, including from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

SECO has refrained from recommending Swiss adoption of the EU’s hybrid threats sanctions regime, citing “legal and political considerations.” When pressed for details, a SECO spokesperson explained that under the Embargo Act, Switzerland may impose coercive measures to enforce sanctions aimed at respecting international law and human rights, but that the EU’s listing criteria for hybrid threats only “partially” meet this requirement.

The spokesperson noted that Switzerland’s priority remains sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict, though Swiss authorities have adopted numerous sanctions targeting disinformation activities by government officials, businesspeople, and propaganda channels from countries including Nicaragua, Myanmar, Libya, Belarus, and Russia.

The justifications for some of these sanctions appear inconsistent, however. For instance, Russian literary critic Maxim Zamshev, editor-in-chief of Literaturnaya Gazeta and a member of Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, was sanctioned for “support for the Russian invasion and spreading propaganda and disinformation about the war.” Why Zamshev was targeted while many other Russian intellectuals who support the war were not remains unclear.

The outcomes of both cases will likely establish important precedents for how Western democracies balance security concerns against civil liberties in an era of information warfare.