Jacques Baud is a Person of Valor and is Fighting Back – UBS is Blocking His Accounts

Introduction

The story of Jacques Baud is also a reminder of what can happen when you express an opinion that differs from that of the EU, an entity that was created to unite Europe but has developed into a dictatorial, illegal hydra that not only excludes dissidents, but also seeks to destroy them. The only thing Jacques Baud can be accused of is that he came to different conclusions in his analysis—for example, regarding the war in Ukraine. He has never favored one side of any conflict. The fact that his assessment is proving increasingly accurate is of little help to him and may even be detrimental. The opinion of the EU and its members, which is exhausted in warmongering and hatred towards Russia, is binding for every journalist, otherwise the consequences are cruel, and cruel is the right word for what is happening to Jacques Baud.

We summarize what has happened since Jacques Baud was sanctioned on December 15, 2025, how he is defending himself, and what new problems he is facing—problems that, ironically, originate from his own bank in Switzerland.

Jacques Baud – a Person of Valor

I have been following Jacques Baud's work for years. His analyses are characterized not only by their professionalism, but also by an objectivity that most other analysts lack. His objectivity is not something he claims to have, he lives it and refrains from making appearances, for example on Russian television stations, which would very much like to have him as an analyst. In doing so, he accepts that his reach is smaller than it would be with such appearances—RT, for example, can be received by over 700 million people around the world—but not in the EU. Baud does not claim to be objective, he is objective and lives it. His objectivity means that he has never taken sides. In the current Ukraine conflict, which he has been following for years, he has never spoken out for one side or the other, either explicitly or implicitly.

Baud does not speak publicly about his decade-long work prior to his retirement. When I had the opportunity to meet Jacques Baud a few weeks ago, we did not conduct an interview. People do not open up during interviews because interviews are intended for the public. Our conversation was not intended for the public; we simply wanted to get to know each other better. I quickly realized that behind the objective analyst was a man who had dedicated his entire life to peace. He served his homeland, Switzerland, his entire life. He was a colonel in the general staff, but not as a career officer, rather as a militia officer who gave thousands of days to Switzerland without fanfare, like many others, a great gift to Switzerland.

His professional career paints a picture of a man who always worked for the good of the people of this world. His missions in many countries, especially in Africa, were extremely dangerous. He led people through minefields, real minefields that can kill if you take one wrong step—that takes courage. In civil wars, he sat down with parties that had previously threatened his life. He describes his life as exciting. That is a colossal understatement for a life that can rightly be compared to that of Indiana Jones. Always in the service of good, never in the foreground, always in the background, where courageous, even heroic actions can improve the fate of many people. However, his successful work for Switzerland and the world also seems to have generated envy. Envy that he led such an exciting life. This envy did not come from Brussels. It arose in his home country among colleagues in Bern. Jacques Baud is affected by these developments, by a life that has been taken away from him, a life that is currently defined by frozen accounts, travel bans, and a host of lawyers. He told me that he is not bitter, because despite the hellish injustice that has befallen him, he knows that he has done nothing wrong. What lifts his spirits is the enormous support he has received from old colleagues, friends, and even people he did not know before who have offered their support. He is truly a fighter and draws his energy from what is right.

Jacques Baud is a person of valor who should be treated with the utmost respect; no one deserves less to become a pawn in Brussels' propaganda games, supported by former jealous colleagues in Bern.

Jacques Baud Fights Back

In the battle against the Hydra in Brussels, two law firms are fighting for Jacques Baud, one in Paris and one in Vienna. Both specialize in opposing sanctions imposed by the Brussels power apparatus. The fight is by no means fair. The sanctions imposed were not preceded by any proceedings under the rule of law. Jacques Baud was not given the opportunity to respond to the allegations, as is an irrefutable principle in any civilized country. The EU is therefore not a power that submits to the most basic principles of law. The EU subjugates fairness and humanity and destroys them.

The pathologically Russophobic Kaja Kallas, whose stated goal is to divide Russia, is accepting proposals from member states that want to silence journalists.

“The breakup of Russia into small nations is not a bad thing.”

Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, 2023

These are added to a list and sanctioned with justifications that would not even be sufficient to issue a parking ticket under any rule of law.

Here is the official statement from the Council of the European Union dated December 15, 2025:

Jacques Baud, a former Swiss army colonel and strategic analyst, is a regular guest on pro-Russian television and radio programmes. He acts as a mouthpiece for pro-Russian propaganda and makes conspiracy theories, for example accusing Ukraine of orchestrating its own invasion in order to join NATO.
Therefore, Jacques Baud is responsible for, implementing or supporting actions or policies attributable to the Government of the Russian Federation which undermine or threaten stability or security in a third country (Ukraine) by engaging in the use of information manipulation and interference.

COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2025/2572 of 15 December 2025 amending Decision (CFSP) 2024/2643 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s destabilising activities

Jacques Baud has never appeared on Russian television or radio. This “justification” is based on the so-called “working papers,” documents that were compiled as evidence for the sanctions by the EU. These “working papers” do not contain a single document that would substantiate the allegations made in the decision. The working papers contain newspaper articles from leading media outlets claiming that Jacques Baud engages in “propaganda” – nothing more. Jacques Baud and his lawyers must now defend themselves against allegations that are not substantiated. In addition, there is a reversal of the burden of proof in this case: he must prove that he is innocent. Imagine if you had to prove that you had never parked illegally in the last 10 years – impossible. In criminal and civil law, the principle of “negativa non sunt probanda” applies, meaning “negative facts do not have to be proven,” precisely to prevent this impossible situation. This no longer applies in the EU.

Jacques Baud Fights Back Against Defamation in Switzerland

Of all people, it was a senior member of Federal Councilor Jans' staff who attacked Jacques Baud in the most despicable manner. On December 17, 2025, he published the following smear campaign against Jacques Baud on his X account.

Translation:

"Jacques Baud is a nasty conspiracy theorist who reverses the roles of perpetrator and victim and claims, against all better judgment, that Ukraine itself provoked the war of aggression that Russia is waging against it. Baud is Putin's mouthpiece."

The author of this post is Marc Schinzel, who probably thought he could continue to kick Jacques Baud while he was down, since Baud couldn't defend himself. We all know people like this from our school days – bullies, cowardly loudmouths who always pick on the weak. This bully is a close associate of Federal Councilor Jans, who commented on Jacques Baud with a condescending grin at the press conference. The Weltwoche: "SP Federal Councilor Beat Jans shows little sympathy for Jacques Baud. The Federal Council did not discuss the EU sanctions against Swiss citizens at its meeting on Friday, said the Minister of Justice in response to a question from the Weltwoche.

When asked whether he could still advise Swiss citizens to travel to the EU, Jans had to laugh at first. Finally, he replied, “Yes.” The Baud case is proof enough that the question is anything but absurd.

Jans and Schinzel were obviously pleased about the sanctioning of the patriot Baud, and Schinzel believed himself to be safe from consequences.

He was wrong. On February 20, 2026, the well-known Zurich lawyer Dr. Valentin Landmann filed a criminal complaint against Schinzel with the Muttenz public prosecutor's office. We have a copy of this complaint. Landmann's reasoning is clear, compelling, and should—if Swiss law still applies—lead to a conviction. However, this question is not for me to judge, but for the competent court.

Regardless of the criminal implications, it is clear that we have people in our national government who act in a deeply despicable manner, both as human beings and in terms of their character. Jacques Baud led people through minefields and risked his life for others. How would Schinzel act in such a situation? He would probably send his staff or even his wife and children ahead and observe the situation from a safe distance. The Swiss population should begin to consider what kind of characters they want in our national government. Cowardly bullies or men like Jacques Baud. If the population elects losers to parliament, losers will end up in the executive branch. It's that simple. Is Schinzel aware of what kind of role model he is for his children?

Schinzel, who was probably acting on the orders or at least with the support of his superior in the Federal Council, misjudged the situation in believing that he could do this without consequences. Unlike Schinzel, Baud is a man who fights back and has the support of many, including lawyer Valentin Landmann.

Federal Councilor Cassis' FDFA Blackens E-Mails Concerning Jacques Baud

In a request dated December 29, 2025, Rafael Lutz, a journalist at Weltwoche, asked SECO for access to documents relating to the sanctions imposed on Jacques Baud.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO formally complied with this request on January 28, 2026. Why formally? – most of the email texts were blacked out.

The reason: “A foreign authority also objected to the email correspondence being made public.” We explained above that Jacques Baud's sanctioning was probably encouraged by people in Bern — people who were jealous of him. In any case, the email shown above does not contain any email addresses of foreign individuals, only those of people at the FDFA, Jacques Baud's former employer. This is an indication that our fears that people at the FDFA want to destroy Jacques Baud are well-founded. A process to “redact” the emails in question is underway. I assume that the truth will come out sooner or later, either officially or through a leak in the Bernese administration by an employee who is no longer willing to cover up this scandalous behavior by our FDFA.

Jacques Baud Fights Back Against UBS

Since February 5, 2026, UBS Switzerland has frozen Jacques Baud's accounts and credit cards—without any prior notice or clarification.

This approach is not only scandalous, but also illegal.

Jacques Baud is not subject to sanctions in Switzerland, and the sanctions imposed on Mr. Baud by the Council of the EU pursuant to Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2024/2642 have no extraterritorial effect. The EU sanctions against Mr. Baud are therefore not applicable in Switzerland. A payment by the Swiss government to a Swiss bank account held by a Swiss citizen does not therefore fall within the scope of EU sanctions law and is therefore not subject to the so-called “asset freeze” under Article 2 of the aforementioned EU Regulation. In addition, according to a decision by the Belgian sanctions authority (Service Public Federal Financier, PID 28342, TID 137783, Annex ./1), transfers from Switzerland to a Belgian account held by Mr. Baud have been explicitly declared permissible.

The EU sanctions authorities therefore clearly assume that Mr. Baud's account at UBS is not subject to the asset freeze and even approve transfers from the account at UBS to Mr. Baud's account at ING Bank (held in the EU).

Since the sanctions imposed by the EU are not effective in Switzerland and since the EU sanctions authorities themselves assume that Mr. Baud's Swiss accounts will remain active and that transfers from these accounts to (blocked) accounts in the EU, UBS's action against Mr. Baud is not covered by point 9 of the general terms and conditions agreed between UBS and Mr. Baud. UBS has therefore acted in breach of contract and without legal basis. UBS is thus acting illegally.

I have been told that the Baud case is now on Sergio Ermotti's desk. Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS, has repeatedly stated that UBS is proud to be a Swiss bank. If that is the case, then he should also comply with Swiss law and his own terms and conditions.

This raises the question of whether Ermotti is the real boss at his own company, or whether Michelle Bereaux, Group Chief Compliance and Operational Risk Control Officer, Member of the Group Executive Board, UBS, who according to LinkedIn is based in London, has more power than Ermotti.

Sergio Ermotti, who according to the NZZ newspaper on Saturday, February 28, 2026, wants to remain in office longer, now has the chance to show that he is the boss. This will be easy for him if he is really serious: immediately release Jacques Baud's accounts—with a personal phone call to Jacques Baud, he could show that he is the head of a Swiss bank and complies with Swiss law.

Conclusion

Jacques Baud is the first of more than 80 journalists sanctioned by the EU to fight back, in Brussels, Switzerland, and internationally. The Epstein scandal seems to be overshadowing one of the biggest scandals in Swiss history, but Jacques Baud, who guided people through minefields, is a fighter and a hero and deserves the support of all those who think the same way!