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Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Dalai Lama will be in Lausanne 4-5 August, part of a European tour organized by the Tibetan community, but the Swiss Federal Council (cabinet) will not be sending a delegation to greet him. The highest-ranking Swiss official outside the Cabinet, the head of the lower house of Parliament, Chiara Simoneschi-Cortesi, will instead travel to Lausanne to welcome him as head of a spiritual community. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to hold a public conference Wednesday 5 August on “World peace through inner peace” and this event, plus the other talks at the conference at the Malley sports centre, are sold out.

Swiss media have reacted to the announcement of his official welcome and heated political criticism, including that of a right-wing UDC party support group for Tibet, by probing to see if  exploratory talks for a free trade agreement between Switzerland and China that began in January 2009 have played a large role in the Federal Council’s decision. They note that official policy appears to have changed, and question if this is due to pressure from China or a pragmatic approach. The interior minister, Pascal Couchepin,  met with the Dalai Lama when he visited Switzerland in 2005.

Couchepin is soon to retire and has other commitments in early August and the other members of the Cabinet also have commitments and in any event failed to volunteer for the welcoming job, according to Le Temps, which takes a close look at the siutation. The Geneva-based newspaper quotes Gérald Béroud, founder of Swiss-Chinese organization Sinoptic, as saying that no matter who welcomes the Dalai Lama, there will be little impact on trade talks because the Chinese government is used to these dilemmas during Dalai Lama visits to Europe.

The council, which is on its summer holiday break, has not reacted officially to the accusations.

Related: swissinfo and in French: Le Temps, TSR, 20 Minutes