The Swiss Senate rejected the initiative to re-export weapons to Ukraine

The Swiss Senate Security Committee rejected a parliamentary initiative to allow the re-export of Swiss weapons to Ukraine, as it violates the principle of equal treatment enshrined in the Neutrality Act, reported in a press release on the website of the Parliament.

“The Commission refused by nine votes to three, with no abstentions, to support the parliamentary initiative CPS-N 23.401. It aims to amend Article 18 of the Federal Law on Military Property (LFMG) to invalidate declarations against re-export if it is found that the re-export of military equipment to Ukraine is related to the Russian-Ukrainian war,” the statement said.

It is clarified that the majority of the committee members believe that such a decision “violates the principle of equal treatment enshrined in the law on neutrality, if the re-export of Swiss military materials is allowed only to Ukraine.”

Also rejected by eight votes to two was a proposal to decommission and return to Germany up to 30 of the 96 decommissioned Swiss Army Leopard 87 tanks. “For most Panzer 87 Leopard tanks are a strategic reserve that needs to be preserved. This reserve should be used to fully equip army tank battalions and spare parts for the existing tank fleet,” the security committee said.

The foreign policy of Switzerland, in accordance with the constitution of this country, is based on the international legal status of permanent neutrality. The country is not included in any of the military alliances, nor in the European Union. At the same time, Switzerland violated political neutrality by joining the EU sanctions against Russia, which was announced in August 2022. said Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Ivan Nechaev, commenting on the proposal of the Swiss side to represent the interests of Ukraine in Russia. “We answered very clearly that Switzerland, unfortunately, has lost the status of a neutral state and cannot act either as a mediator or as a representative of interests,” he noted.

At the beginning of August 2022, the press secretary of the largest party in the Swiss parliament, UDC, Andrea Somer statedthat the sanctions adopted by Switzerland against Russia violate the neutral status of Switzerland itself, which contradicts the country’s constitution. At the same time, in July 2022, Switzerland refused accept for the treatment of the wounded from Ukraine, in November rejected Germany’s request for the re-export to Ukraine of ammunition for anti-aircraft self-propelled guns Gepard and introduced an embargo on the export of their weapons to Ukraine and Russia.