Swiss ambassador takes neutrality to extremes with visit to Shropshire and Mid Wales border village ahead of women's Euros matches
The Swiss are famed for their neutrality but the country's ambassador has taken that to extremes on his visit to the Shropshire and Mid Wales border.
While Markus Leitner's home country is hosting the Women's European Championships - with England defending their title and Wales making their first tournament appearance - the ambassador was in... Llanymynech.
It is a fair question to ask what drags Switzerland's representative to the UK to the small border village, but it's one with a simple answer.
While Saturday saw both the England and Wales teams playing their first football games of the championship, Mr Leitner visited Llanymynech to allow him to keep up the time-worn tradition of his country's commitment to neutrality by watching the first match in Welsh pub - before taking the few steps across the border for England's contest against the French.
Mr Leitner has been promoting his country's role as hosts and speaks with pride when he explains that more than 600,000 tickets have been sold for the tournament, with 22 of the 31 games already sold out.
He previously visited Yr Wyddfa - formerly known as Snowdon - scaling the mountain for the announcement of Wales' women's squad.
The ambassador said the quirky boundary-based peculiarities of the Shropshire and Mid Wales border village had made it the perfect place to celebrate England and Wales' participation in his homeland's tournament.
And although no stranger to neighbourly tension, having previously worked in Tehran, Mr Leitner said the commitment to neutrality made it sensible not to visit when England and Wales face off against each other later this month.
Speaking from the Dolphin pub on the Welsh side of the border, where he was joined by the Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr constituency's Labour MP Steve Witherden who had come armed with a gift of Welsh cakes, he said: "Obviously we are neutral when it comes to Wales and England but I would like to watch it on home turf and that was the idea coming here today, to be in a very short distance."
Mr Leitner, a Grasshoppers Zurich FC fan, said that despite the novel nature of the visit, he loves getting to see new parts of the UK - and with Switzerland bordering multiple countries and having four official languages, he's no stranger to the unique differences posed by neighbouring nationalities.
He said: "I love to come to get out of London, to go out of the office. I feel every day I spend in my office I could have spent at home in Switzerland."
He said: "I have been many times in wales, it is always great to come out and it is great to be in Shropshire."
As they sat enjoying a quiet drink in the Dolphin ahead of exploring a bit of the village, Mr Witherden said it had been wonderful to welcome the ambassador.
He said: "It is absolutely fantastic to get him up here in the constituency, it is such a novel idea having a village on the border."
He also voiced his delight at the Welsh side's qualification for the tournament, saying: "We are not a big country but we are a country that loves our sport."
Mr Leitner later joined Mr Witherden's football - and political - rival, the Lib Dem MP for North Shropshire, Helen Morgan, as they visited the Cross Keys for England's tournament debut.
Speaking after the visit Mrs Morgan said she had been thrilled to welcome the Swiss visitor, but that her support for the Lionesses was not in question.
She said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Swiss Ambassador to North Shropshire and show off the UK’s best constituency.
“Thanks a lot to the team at the Cross Keys for being such kind hosts. There’s no neutrality this side of the border – we’re all fully behind the Lionesses and will be cheering England on throughout the tournament.”
The ambassador added: "A huge thanks to Steve Witherden MP, Helen Morgan MP, and everyone in Llanymynech for the warm reception - especially the teams at the Dolphin Inn and Cross Keys pubs.
As it was the ambassador unfortunately wasn't a good-luck charm for either team with the results proving disappointing for both Wales and England, with the Welsh losing 3-0 to The Netherlands, and the Lionesses going down 2-1 to the French.
Both sides will have a chance to put things right as they take on their neighbour's conquerors as the fixtures reverse on Wednesday, July 9, before they face off against each other on Sunday, July 13.
