This week, a group calling themselves the Pro Switzerland Group, announced it had collected 133,000 signatures, a number comfortably above the 100,000 needed to call a referendum, reported SRF. The group wants to ask voters whether they want the nation’s neutrality to be strictly set out in Switzerland’s constitution.
The initiative calls for a constitutional definition of neutrality that prevents Switzerland joining any military or defence alliance or imposing sanctions on belligerent states.
According to the initiative’s text, Switzerland would not be allowed to join any military or defence alliance unless Switzerland is directly attacked. Switzerland would not be able to order or support sanctions against belligerent states unless it is obliged to do so by the UN – see more on the initiative here.
This would mean that EU sanctions, such as those taken against Russia after the attack on Ukraine, would probably no longer be able to be adopted by Switzerland if the vote was successful.
In addition, Switzerland would be required to offer services to mediate to prevent and resolve international conflicts.
The initiative has divided political opinion. Some in the Swiss People’s Party argue that by adopting EU sanctions against Russia, Switzerland has become a warring party. Other parties such as the Green Party argue that such a definition of neutrality would isolate Switzerland and that the security of Switzerland is based on contributing to a stable international order.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Robert Stewart says
When CH bought F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from LM, they de facto joined a Western Defense Alliance as a partner in maintaining these sophisticated fighters with democratic allies. To suggest CH is a phony neutral state leads others to believe we worship pink elephants.
Thank God Switzerland is as close to NATO and the countries that protected it from French (Napoleon), German (Hitler) and not Putin advances. Were it not for the victory of WWII, Switzerland would now be part of the Fourth Reich or worse.
Wake up kiddies. We are firmly in the shadow of the powerful West with whom we maintain or sovereignty and financial stability. Playing with the world’s dictatorial states may make some people rich, but Switzerland is poorer for it.