DGermany is finally not allowed to pass on ammunition produced in Switzerland for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank to the Ukraine. This is what Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin wrote to Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on Thursday. He thus rejected Lambrecht’s written request to be allowed to pass on around 12,400 cartridges to the Ukraine. In the defensive war against Russia, the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition for the cheetah supplied by Germany.
However, Germany can only pass on the bullets still in stock with the consent of Switzerland. This was once contractually agreed when the material was delivered. Already in the spring, the responsible Ministry of Economics in Bern had refused a re-export license. Nevertheless, Lambrecht made a second attempt. In the letter to the Swiss government, she pointed out that the cheetah also protects the infrastructure in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. This is important for humanitarian projects such as grain exports by ship.
But the Swiss Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is responsible for arms exports, has now maintained its negative attitude. In a statement, it cited legal reasons for this: In the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, Switzerland applies the law of neutrality, which is part of customary international law. “Due to the principle of equal treatment under neutrality law, Switzerland cannot agree to a request for the transfer of Swiss-origin war material to Ukraine as long as it is involved in an international armed conflict.”
Advocates of “cooperative neutrality” are defeated
In addition, the Swiss War Material Act does not allow the delivery of war material to countries that are involved in an armed conflict. Economics Minister Parmelin emphasized in his reply to Lambrecht that Switzerland is committed to peace and security, “but always in strict compliance with the law of neutrality, as is in line with its humanitarian tradition”. The government recently decided on the “Winter Aid Action Plan” to support the people in Ukraine. This means that Switzerland is making CHF 100 million available in addition to its existing humanitarian commitment in Ukraine.
Switzerland’s position on the question of the transfer of ammunition meets with some harsh criticism in Germany. At the end of last week, politicians from the CDU and the FDP questioned Switzerland’s role as an armaments supplier. In Germany and Switzerland there was isolated talk of “aid not rendered”.
An initiative by FDP party president Thierry Burkhart is pending in the Swiss parliament. In it, Burkhart demands that certain countries that have similar values and export regulations to Switzerland should be allowed to pass on Swiss-made weapons and ammunition to third parties. But even if there were a political majority for this push, a possible change in the law would only apply to future arms sales.
The Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (FDP) had also proposed in his concept of “cooperative neutrality” to relax the re-export regulations for arms exports. He wanted to amend the War Material Act to allow Swiss-made weapons to be passed on to conflict zones under certain circumstances. But he was not able to assert himself in the multi-party government.