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Diplomatic? Are you kidding? You mean it when you say that! In road traffic, many embassy employees and officials of international organizations suddenly no longer take it too seriously when it comes to correction.
New figures show: in 2019 diplomats in Switzerland received 9,304 parking tickets for a total of 692,000 francs.
Most of the buses, more than half a million francs, went to the canton of Geneva, where an especially large number of embassies, consulates and international organizations are based.
Only one in three diplomats pay
But that is not all. Only one in three traffic violators with diplomatic plates eventually paid for their buses. The rest are denied to this day.
The police are powerless. Because foreign diplomats have immunity in Switzerland. That means: Regardless of whether you are racing, driving drunk or parking incorrectly, you are legally protected. It is true that police officers have the opportunity to atone for guilty drivers. However, they cannot collect the money.
The cantons are losing millions. Only last year went unpaid diplomatic tickets totaling almost 500,000 francs. In 2018 it was 670,000 francs.
The number of traffic violations has decreased
The problem is not new. The Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) has been trying for years to get diplomats to not pay for buses by sending parking tickets to the responsible embassies. In particularly serious cases, according to spokesperson Elisa Raggi, even the responsible head of mission is summoned.
After all: the external department’s efforts are having an effect. In recent years, the number of traffic offenses committed by diplomats has decreased. And the payment behavior has improved significantly. In 2014, only one in 20 foreign diplomats paid for their buses, today it is one in three.
It’s enough? Apparently Switzerland cannot do more. FDFA spokeswoman Raggi says the existing possibilities are “basically exhausted.”
