National Council rejects new constitutional article on neutrality
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss House of Representatives has voted against enshrining permanent and armed neutrality in the Constitution. It has rejected the neutrality initiative and, unlike the Senate, does not want a counter-proposal.
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After around eight hours of debate, the House voted against the neutrality initiative on Thursday by 128 votes to 60. Only the right-wing Swiss People’s party sought to recommend a Yes vote to the electorate.
The House also voted against the direct counter-proposal by 109 votes to 77 with two abstentions. The Swiss People’s Party and members of the Centre and Liberal-Green party parliamentary groups voted in favour of it. This puts the House in line with the federal government, which rejected the neutrality initiative and decided against a counter-proposal.
+ How the neutrality initiative could affect Swiss policy
The initiative by Pro Switzerland and Swiss People’s Party proponents calls for “perpetual and armed” neutrality and a broad ban on sanctions to be written into the Constitution. Only sanctions decided by the UN Security Council could still be supported. Switzerland would only be allowed to cooperate with military or defence alliances in the event of an attack on Switzerland.
The Senate rejected the initiative last summer because, although it wanted to enshrine permanent and armed neutrality in the Constitution, it did not want to restrict the possibilities for sanctions. Accordingly, it adopted an alternative article on neutrality as a direct counter-proposal. It has put the matter on the agenda again next week.
Nationwide vote
Swiss citizens are expected to vote on the neutrality initiative in 2026. If a majority of both the people and the cantons approve it, Switzerland would writeExternal link “perpetual and armed” neutrality into its Constitution.
The Swiss Constitution states that the federal government and parliament are responsible for neutrality policy. This has allowed Switzerland to adapt its neutrality to the changing geopolitical circumstances over the decades. If the popular initiative is adopted, this flexibility would end.
Groups behind the initiative argue that the country has been “abandoning its neutrality, piece by piece,” according to the initiative’s websiteExternal link. They argue this is happening through, for example, the adoption of EU sanctions against Russia as well as closer ties with NATO.
Translated from German by AI/jdp
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