Swiss voters reject tougher neutrality rules
More than 70% of Swiss voters rejected a proposal that would have barred the country from imposing sanctions without UN approval. The initiative had been openly backed by Russia.
Swiss voters have decisively rejected a proposal to impose a stricter interpretation of the country's long-standing neutrality policy, with official results showing more than 70% voting against the measure in a referendum.
Had it passed, the proposal would have prevented Switzerland from imposing sanctions without approval from the United Nations, and would also have made it harder for the country to build closer ties with the Nato military alliance. The initiative was put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) and was openly supported by Russia, while the federal government and all other major parties opposed it.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has revived debate over Switzerland's centuries-old tradition of non-alignment. Lukas Golder, co-director of the research institute Gfs.bern, told Swiss broadcaster SRF that the result did not show voters rejecting neutrality itself, but rather that they support sanctions against Russia and have a clear sense of what neutrality is meant to achieve.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said in a recent televised debate that neutrality has always been applied with a degree of flexibility and does not mean indifference. He said Switzerland has no plans to lift its ban on selling arms to countries involved in conflicts, including Ukraine, but stressed that the country would not look away from violations of the international rules that underpin peace.
Switzerland's neutrality was internationally recognised in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna and was later given legal grounding by the 1907 Hague Convention, which bars the country from supplying weapons to warring states. On this basis, Switzerland previously turned down a German request to supply ammunition for tanks destined for Kyiv. The country remained neutral throughout World War Two, though it later apologised in the 1990s for wartime policies including banking gold looted by the Nazis and turning away Jewish refugees.
Switzerland's system of direct democracy means major political questions are frequently put to a public vote.
