Analysis: The neutral Switzerland is getting closer to NATO towards Russia
BERN, May 15 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s fabled neutral status is about to face its biggest test in decades as the Defense Ministry draws closer to Western military powers in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry is preparing a report on security options that include joint military exercises with NATO countries and “replenishing” of ammunition, Paelvi Pulli, head of security policy at the Swiss Defense Ministry, told Reuters.
The details of the policy options discussed in the government have not yet been reported.
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“Ultimately there could be changes in the interpretation of neutrality,” Pulli said in an interview last week. During a trip to Washington this week, Defense Secretary Viola Amherd said Switzerland should work more closely with the US-led military alliance but not join it, Swiss media reported.
The neutrality that kept Switzerland out of the two world wars in the 20th century is not an end in itself, but wants to increase Switzerland’s security, said Pulli.
Other options are high-level and regular meetings between Swiss and NATO commanders and politicians, she said.
Such a close rapprochement with the alliance would mean a departure from the carefully cultivated tradition of taking no sides, which its supporters say has helped Switzerland prosper peacefully and maintain a special role as mediator, even during the confrontation of the West with the Soviet Union.
The idea of full NATO membership has been mooted, but while Sweden and Finland — countries that also have a history of neutrality — are close to joining, Pulli said the report is unlikely to recommend Switzerland take that step.
The report should be completed by the end of September and then submitted to the Swiss cabinet for review.
It is submitted to Parliament for discussion and serves as a basis for possible decisions on the future direction of Swiss security policy. The report itself will not be put to the vote.
The Department of Defense will also participate in a broader study being prepared by the State Department. This project will look at the adoption of sanctions, arms, ammunition exports and the relationship with NATO from a neutral perspective, the State Department said.
UKRAINE RESUMES SWISS NEUTRALITY DEBATE
Switzerland has not fought in an international war since 1815, when it accepted neutrality at the Congress of Vienna that ended the French Revolutionary Wars.
The 1907 Hague Convention stipulates that Switzerland will not take part in international armed conflicts, favor warring parties with troops or weapons, or make its territory available to warring parties.
The neutrality enshrined in the constitution gives Switzerland the right to self-defense and latitude in interpreting the political aspects of the term that do not fall under the legal definition.
It was last updated in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union to allow for a foreign policy based on cooperation with other countries in areas such as humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
The Ukraine conflict has reignited the debate, which now focuses on the government’s decisions to impose sanctions on Russia but not allow Swiss-made munitions to be re-exported to Ukraine. Continue reading
“There is a lot of unease that Switzerland can no longer contribute to help Ukraine,” Pulli said.
Replenishment – in which Switzerland supplies ammunition to other countries to replace that sent to Ukraine – is another possible measure, Pulli said, in a departure from previous government policy, although a direct supply is likely a step too far goes.
President Ignazio Cassis has ruled out arms sales to third countries in support of Ukraine but may have shown a broader view of the issue, also saying that neutrality is not a “dogma” and “there was a lack of responding with sanctions”. played into the hands of the attacker.”
GROWING SUPPORT FOR NATO
Switzerland already has some ties to NATO, while last year it decided to buy Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) F-35A fighters that some NATO members are buying or already using. Continue reading
Switzerland “can’t join an alliance because of its neutrality. But we can work together and the systems we buy are a good basis for this,” Defense Minister Amherd told SRF.
The proposed measures would be a significant step closer for a country that only joined the United Nations in 2002 and produces many of its own weapons.
Vladimir Khokhlov, spokesman for the Russian embassy in Bern, said such measures would mean a radical change of course for Switzerland. Moscow will “not be able to ignore” a possible renunciation of neutrality, which would have consequences, Chokhlov said. He did not give any further details.
The Swiss military advocates greater cooperation with NATO to strengthen the country’s defenses, while public opinion has changed fundamentally since the invasion of Ukraine.
More than half of those polled – 56% – support stronger ties with NATO, according to a recent poll – well above the 37% average in recent years.
Support for actually joining the treaty remains in the minority but has increased significantly. Sotomo’s April poll found that 33% of Swiss support joining the alliance, more than the 21% long-term view in a separate study by ETH University in Zurich.
“Obviously, the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed many minds. This is seen as an attack on our Western democratic values,” said Sotomo’s Michael Hermann.
Thierry Burkart, leader of the right-of-centre Liberal Democratic Party, which is part of the governing coalition, described a “seismic shift” in people’s attitudes towards neutrality.
Neutrality “has to be flexible,” he told Reuters.
“Before Ukraine, some people thought there would never be a conventional war in Europe again,” he said, adding that some had advocated disbanding the army. “The Ukraine conflict shows that we must not be complacent.”
Burkart said he supports increased military spending and a closer relationship with NATO, but not full membership.
However, Peter Keller, general secretary of the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), told Reuters that a closer relationship with NATO is incompatible with neutrality.
The SVP is also part of the governing coalition and the strongest party in the Swiss lower house.
“There is no reason to change this successful foreign policy maxim. It has brought peace and prosperity to the people,” said Keller.
The Department of Defense disagrees. During her visit to Washington, Amherd said the framework of the neutrality law “enables us to work more closely with NATO and also with our European partners,” the Tagesanzeiger reported.
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Reporting by John Revill; Edited by Frank Jack Daniel
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