Swiss voters reject more restrictive neutrality in referendum

Swiss voters decided this Sunday to reject a more restrictive form of their neutrality that would have prevented the Government from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO on security issues. The initiative carried to a referendum with the support of the populist right of the Swiss People's Party (SVP, in its German acronym) has been clearly rejected, according to the progress of the scrutiny, which predicts close to 70% for the no vote, according to Swiss media.

The objective of the proposal was to include a specific article on neutrality in the Constitution - where it now only indicates that institutions must preserve it - and eliminate the possibility of imposing sanctions on countries at war, unless they are approved by the UN, to which Switzerland is obliged as a member of the organization. The text thus pointed directly to the case of Russia, punished in successive packages of measures by the European Union. In fact, during the campaign, Moscow clearly signaled its support for the initiative in the face of detractors – the rest of the Swiss parties – who described it as “pro-Putin” and denounced Russian interference.

Bern has joined the majority of these European sanctions since Moscow invaded Ukraine, and has considered this step necessary in the face of the flagrant violation of international law, which has protected Swiss neutrality since 1815.

The patriarch of the Swiss populist right and former member of the federal Executive, Christoph Blocher, the main promoter of the referendum, considers that these sanctions break Swiss neutrality and turn the small country into a possible target for Russia. The campaign has funded posters across the country urging people to vote “No to war, yes to neutrality,” with white doves of peace as the main motif.

Furthermore, the initiative provided that Switzerland could only cooperate with NATO in the event of an attack, which would suspend the defense and security collaboration that it now maintains with the Alliance, without being part of it. In a context of uncertainty and instability like the current one, Berna considers that this would have reduced its capacity to prepare for a defense of the country.

The federal Executive has stressed during the campaign that "Switzerland takes advantage of its neutrality to protect its security and independence" and to offer itself as a mediator in conflicts and territory for summits or peace talks, also on the Russian war in Ukraine.

Economic sanctions, “an instrument to react to violations of international law”, to distinguish between the aggressor and the attacked, do not only affect Russia. Bern studies those proposed by the EU on a case-by-case basis and decides whether to apply them “in their entirety, in part or not adopt them at all,” based on “foreign policy, foreign economic policy and legal criteria.” Thus, the list includes countries such as Belarus, Myanmar, Sudan, North Korea or the Taliban in Afghanistan.

A flexible practice of neutrality that voters have now supported with this Sunday's result.