Swiss Voters Reject Push for Stricter Neutrality

Most Swiss citizens voted in a referendum on Sunday and rejected a proposal to enshrine a stricter version of neutrality in the federal constitution. Among other things, supporters of the proposal called for reducing cooperation with any military organization, including NATO, and for not imposing economic sanctions on other countries unless they were approved by the UN. More than two-thirds voted against the proposal.

It should be noted that Switzerland’s neutrality law has been enshrined in the federal constitution since 1848 and states that the country will not take sides in wars between foreign nations. However, from the moment Switzerland decided to join the European Union, it supported imposing economic sanctions on Russia because of its military invasion of Ukraine.

The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), a right-wing party with significant political power in Switzerland, put forward the proposal for stricter neutrality. Its reasoning: taking sides, including through sanctions on Russia, has eroded Switzerland’s traditional status as a neutral country. The party demanded that the Swiss constitution explicitly state from now on that Switzerland may not join or cooperate with any military alliance or defense alliance unless it is itself attacked. They also sought to enshrine in the constitution the provision that Switzerland must refrain from joining any sanctions unless they have been approved by the UN.

Most political parties, as well as the Swiss government, opposed the proposal, and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis even stressed that it would harm national security and prevent Switzerland from training with NATO. Many opponents of the proposal also portrayed it as pro-Russian. Seventy-one percent of the country’s citizens voted against the proposal.