Committee recommends help
Switzerland could change rigid line on arms exports
01/24/2023, 9:45 p.m
Citing its historical neutrality, Switzerland has so far refused any military aid in the case of Ukraine. The country could now move away from this position. A parliamentary committee is recommending exceptions to the strict stance.
In Switzerland, the pressure on the government is growing to say goodbye to the previous ban on the transfer of weapons to warring countries. The Security Policy Commission of the National Council advocates that under certain circumstances weapons may also be passed on to states that are at war. This is the parliamentary committee’s reaction to Russia’s eleven-month war of aggression against Ukraine. The decision lies with the government, the Bundesrat.
The government in Bern has so far refused to challenge the fundamental ban on handing over weapons or ammunition to belligerent parties, citing Switzerland’s neutrality. Last year, for example, Germany was not allowed to pass on Swiss-made cheetah ammunition. According to NZZ Denmark also wants to deliver piranha tanks and Spain anti-aircraft guns made in Switzerland to Ukraine.
The committee is now demanding that the ban on re-exports be lifted in the case of Ukraine – or if the United Nations has determined by a two-thirds majority that a country’s military action violated the ban on the use of force.
Most recently, the opinion of the Social Democrats, who had previously defended the export ban, had changed: “The re-export of ammunition and other armaments must be approved for our neighbors on a case-by-case basis in Ukraine,” wrote MP Eric Nussbaumer. Because the United Nations has condemned Russia’s war of aggression as violating international law, Switzerland “cannot leave its other neighbors out in the cold. We are not the chosen few who can stand aside in the collective defense of international law.”