Swiss voters decided that neutrality does not interfere with compliance with sanctions against Russia

More than two-thirds 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. The initiator of this proposal, the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party, argued that Switzerland's accession to restrictions against Russia would erode the established understanding of neutrality.

All cantons and about 70% of voters rejected a proposal to enshrine a strictly defined concept of neutrality in the Swiss Constitution, final results published by the country's Federal Statistical Office showed. The turnout in the referendum was 47%.

The Swiss People's Party proposed to establish that Switzerland could only join international sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. 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.”