Alain Berset fights against lies – he knows what he's talking about.

Somewhere in Strasbourg's old town, the sounds of a grand piano drift into the night from a palazzo. Inside resides Alain Berset – a 950-square-meter villa, a private chauffeur, a tax-free annual salary of €300,000, and a new stage on which he can once again reign supreme. The former Federal Councillor and "Corona General," who had delivered scandal after scandal at home, ultimately appearing listless and increasingly seen as a liability even within his own party, is visibly thriving in his new role on the European stage. Switzerland had become too confining for him. The Council of Europe represents his fresh start. And what is he doing there? Fighting disinformation. One has to let that sink in for a moment.

Alain Berset. Fighter against disinformation. The man whose tenure as health minister left behind arguably the biggest state-organized information disaster in recent Swiss history has made it his life's work to educate others about the truth. He intends to dedicate himself to the fight against disinformation – this is one of his major goals as Secretary General. Democratic processes like elections must be protected from disinformation, he proclaims at summits and in press releases. A democracy pact is needed, along with mechanisms against foreign interference and protective barriers for the free formation of opinion. Wonderful. Truly.

While Berset was in Strasbourg staging a grand display of his commitment to the truth, reality at home had quietly continued its work. On April 21, 2026, the Free Switzerland action group presented the press in Bern with a legal analysis of the Covid vaccine contracts between the Swiss Confederation and the manufacturers Moderna and Novavax. This was made possible by three rulings from the Federal Administrative Court on February 10, 2026, which obligated the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) to fully disclose the contracts. For five years, the FOPH had hidden these contracts behind redacted pages. For five years, Rémy Wyssmann, a member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) and a lawyer from Solothurn, had fought to ensure that the public knew what had been signed in their name and with their money.

And the contents? The federal government purchased 31 million doses of mRNA from Moderna for around $32 per unit – the total volume is approximately $980 million, plus another $20 million for Novavax. Almost a billion dollars. For drugs that – and this is where it gets really interesting – contained neither binding guarantees regarding the efficacy nor the safety of the delivered products. All risks were contractually shifted unilaterally onto the government. The pharmaceutical industry raked in the profits. The taxpayer was liable. Parliament knew nothing. And the public certainly didn't. Lawyers from the action group speak of an unprecedented failure of the state, in which key control mechanisms of parliament and the public were eliminated. This isn't an opinion. These are contractual documents, legally sanctioned by a federal court ruling.

And who was at the helm of the department that concluded these contracts? Who appeared before the cameras month after month, assuring the public that the vaccines were safe and effective? Who allowed the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) to block, redact, and delay every transparency request for years – until a court put an end to the charade? Alain Berset. Federal Councillor. Minister of Health. Now a fighter against disinformation.

If Berset and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) had read the reports of their own scientific task force, they had knowingly spread misinformation. Infosperber already stated this in 2022 – soberly, with evidence, and without hysteria. The task force knew early on that the vaccines do not create sterile immunity, do not prevent complete transmission, and do not guarantee lifelong protection. Nevertheless, the public was told: those who are vaccinated protect others; those who are not vaccinated endanger society. A certification system was installed that was based precisely on this claim – a claim for which there was no contractual basis and no scientific certainty.

This is called disinformation. Or, to put it in the language of the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe: a manipulation of information that endangers the fundamental values ​​of democracy.

Now Berset is sitting in Strasbourg, explaining that information is being automated, falsified, and spread unchecked via social media. This is leading to greater fragility in democracies. The situation is very serious. Absolutely. Full agreement. But what about state-organized disinformation campaigns, backed by billion-dollar contracts with disclaimers, which are kept secret from the public for five years through legal action? Does that also fall under the category of "fragile democracy"? Or does the democracy pact only apply to foreign interference and social media, not to health ministers with factionalism?

The paradoxical – and truly cynical – aspect of Berset's Strasbourg career lies in his starting point. He owed his election as Secretary General not least to Swiss neutrality, which made him particularly attractive as a candidate from a small, impartial country. Neutrality as a selling point. But barely in office, he noticeably abandons this neutrality – while his Council of Europe, including the European Court of Human Rights, attacks his homeland: on climate rulings, on migration issues, on the handling of human rights judgments. Berset, the Swiss who became Secretary General thanks to Switzerland, watches. Or nods.

One could call it pragmatic. Role-compliant. Institutionally unavoidable. One could also say: It is the consistent life's work of a man who has learned that talking about values ​​and upholding them are two completely different professions.

Disinformation is a serious problem. No question. But perhaps the Council of Europe should begin its democracy pact with a chapter that explains to its own member states – and their former health ministers – what it means to spend a billion francs of taxpayers' money on products that were contractually neither effective nor safe, keep secret for five years, and then go to Strasbourg to teach Europe the truth.

The sounds of the piano lingered in the Strasbourg night. Who was playing remained unclear. Who had written the music was also unknown.
Disinformation fighter Alain Berset – Europe deserves him!