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In the “Arena”, the representatives of the parties discussed whether Switzerland should allow war material exports to Ukraine – and what that would mean for neutrality.
Deliveries of Swiss ammunition from Germany to Ukraine should be allowed, said Center President Gerhard Pfister in the “Arena” on Friday evening, where the party leaders met. What is happening in Ukraine right now has direct consequences for our security situation.
“Switzerland and its democratic values are also being defended in Ukraine,” continued Pfister. The fact that the Federal Council has so far rejected requests from Germany for the supply of ammunition can be seen as “a failure to provide assistance to Ukraine”.
“According to the current law, it is not possible for the Federal Council to release such deliveries,” contradicted FDP President Thierry Burkart. “That would be a breach of neutrality.”
No legal basis
According to Burkart, in the future one must consider whether democratic countries with strict arms export rules should be allowed to pass on war material from Switzerland to other democracies in the event of a conflict.
GLP Vice President Melanie Mettler also called for an adjustment to the arms export regime. Neutrality does not mean having no attitude or being value-free.
This is an existential security risk for Switzerland.
All other parties fundamentally reject war material exports to warring parties. So also the SVP. “Under no circumstances should Switzerland deliver war material to a warring party,” said Roger Köppel, a member of the party leadership.
Discussion for SVP “extremely dangerous”
If Switzerland delivers war material to Ukraine via another country, it circumvents its obligations under neutrality law. This makes them a “war party”. At the same time, it can no longer perform its peace function.
There has never been an integral neutrality of the kind demanded by Roger Köppel.
He calls for an immediate return to “integral neutrality”. If Köppel has his way, sanctions would also be prohibited. Switzerland is slipping deeper and deeper into this war. “I am appalled by the implicitness with which the other parties want to soften neutrality.”
Burkart replied that there had never been such a strict neutrality in Switzerland as Roger Köppel was demanding. Neutrality is based on international law and has been designed differently in the past.
Energy sovereignty instead of arms deliveries
For the SP, on the other hand, the issue of arms deliveries is a diversionary maneuver from the right. The most effective lever that Switzerland has is the financial center, said SP co-president Mattea Meyer.
“Switzerland is the hub for Russian oligarch money, for Russian commodity trading, this is where we have to start”. You can no longer look away. Only in this way could Switzerland make a significant difference for the people of Ukraine.
Legal bases required
Green President Balthasar Glättli agreed with her. When Pfister said that Switzerland was being defended in Ukraine, one could also say that Putin was being armed in the canton of Zug, Glättli said. 80 percent of raw material trading went via Zug and Geneva.
“That’s what is acknowledged to fill the war chest.” You have to get away from Russian gas as soon as possible and move forward with energy sovereignty. The SP wants the assets frozen in Switzerland by Russian oligarchs who are close to Putin and sanctioned to be given to Ukraine for reconstruction.
“It is only right that these assets benefit the country that is being destroyed by the Putin regime,” Meyer said. A legal basis should be created for this.