Swiss voters reject proposal to tighten neutrality

A clear majority of Swiss voters spoke out in the referendum against the proposal to enshrine in the Constitution an understanding of the country's neutrality that would exclude sanctions against Russia and cooperation with NATO. This is indicated by exit poll data and statistical models built on the basis of the first vote count results.

More than two-thirds voted against the proposal to enshrine a narrow definition in the Swiss Constitution, according to the latest projections of the referendum results published by state broadcaster SRF. The gsf.bern model showed 30 minutes after the end of voting that 71% of voters were against the proposal.

The right-wing populist Swiss People's Party proposed to establish that Switzerland could only join international sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. In her opinion, Switzerland's traditional neutrality was undermined after Bern imposed sanctions against Russia with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

The amendments proposed by the Swiss People's Party also included a refusal to cooperate closely with any military alliances unless the country faces an immediate threat of attack.

Switzerland has largely acceded to European Union sanctions against Russia that were introduced after February 2022. The country is not a member of NATO, but maintains fairly close relations with the alliance and takes part in some of its programs.

Switzerland declared itself a neutral country in 1815, and in 1848 enshrined this status in its Constitution. However, the text of the Constitution allows for a significant breadth of interpretation.

In 2022, Switzerland considered the Russian invasion of Ukraine a violation of international law and joined EU sanctions against Moscow.

In the summer, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke out in support of tightening the concept of Swiss neutrality. In her telegram post, she noted that “Switzerland has joined two dozen packages of European Union sanctions against Russia” and “about 2,600 individuals and legal entities are under asset freeze in the country.”

“Switzerland has not had a war for 200 years because it is constantly armed and neutral,” Christoph Blocher, a billionaire businessman and donor to the Swiss People's Party (SVP), told Reuters. “But in recent years the principle of neutrality has become less and less observed.”

Because of the sanctions, Blocher noted, Russia has stopped viewing Switzerland as a neutral state.

Opponents of the Swiss People's Party presented its initiative as pro-Russian.

As Fabio Wasserfallen, professor of European politics at the University of Bern, said before the referendum, “Swiss voters support neutrality, but they approve of the way the government is currently implementing it. In addition, they generally support sanctions against Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine and do not want this to change.”