Recently revealed financial difficulties at Switzerland’s military came out of the blue this week, reported RTS.
Army head Thomas Süssli and defence minister Viola Amherd are in regular contact about the army’s finances, so politicians across the political spectrum were surprised by the size of hole in the budget. Some said they knew there was a shortfall, but not CHF 1.2 billion.
It seems the army relied too heavily on parliament to quickly increase funding, which never happened. However, the scale of the problem has taken many in Bern by surprise.
Poor planning eight years ago when the army calculated the cost of financing new F-35 fighter jets and parliamentary approval for increased arms purchases since 2020 have been cited as reasons for the hole.
According to SRF, the federal defence department is trying to negotiate later payments with suppliers. Cancelling parts of orders is also being discussed.
Some politicians are calling for greater transparency.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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