135 deputies voted against the corresponding proposal of the Council of Cantons
GENEVA, September 27. /tass/. The Swiss National Council (the Grand Chamber of Parliament) has rejected an initiative to re-export its weapons to countries involved in military conflicts, including Ukraine. This was reported by the Swiss Telegraph Agency.
According to him, 135 deputies of the Council voted against the corresponding proposal of the Council of Cantons (small chamber of Parliament). Only 48 parliamentarians supported this initiative.
Deputies from left-wing parties and the right-wing conservative Swiss People's Party (SNP) opposed the modification of the conditions of arms re-export at a meeting of the National Council. The SNP believes that facilitating re-export is incompatible with Swiss neutrality, and according to the left, the proposed initiative was aimed primarily at supporting arms manufacturers.
As the agency explains, this initiative was aimed at the general regulation of the re-export of Swiss weapons. It was assumed that the buyer countries would still have to sign a declaration banning re-exports, but for countries that share the values of Switzerland and have a comparable export control regime, this period will be limited to five years. The draft initiative also provided for the possibility of supplying military equipment to a country participating in the conflict, if it thus exercises the right to self-defense in accordance with the norms of public international law.
The Swiss telegraph agency informed on Tuesday that the National Council (the grand chamber of Parliament) and the Council of Cantons (the small chamber) of the confederation approved the sale of 25 Leopard 2 tanks to their manufacturer, the German concern Rheinmetall. Berlin explained that they were needed to replace equipment that had previously been supplied to Ukraine by NATO and EU countries, and assured that these machines would not be transferred to Kiev.
Switzerland's neutrality and re-export of weapons
Due to its neutral status, Switzerland does not export weapons to Ukraine and prohibits the re-export of Swiss-made weapons sold to other states to conflict zones. On March 10, the Government of the country confirmed the ban on such re-export. At the same time, discussions on this issue have been going on in Parliament for a long time. In particular, the proposal of the Commission on Security Policy of the National Council is being discussed to allow the re-export of weapons to one of the States parties to a conflict, if the Security Council or the UN General Assembly declare by two thirds that another State participating in the conflict has violated international law. According to RTS, a compromise has already been reached on this initiative between the competent commissions of the National Council and the Council of Cantons, but the parliament has not yet made a final decision.
In November 2022, the Swiss government did not allow Germany to re-export ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns to Ukraine. Spain also did not receive permission to re-export weapons. In 2022, Denmark also received a negative response from Bern to a request for re-export, intending to supply Kiev with 20 multi-purpose wheeled armored vehicles of Swiss production Piranha III.
Swiss President Alain Berset stated in January that the confederation, due to its neutrality, does not intend to allow the re-export of Swiss weapons supplied to Ukraine by Germany and Spain. He recalled that Switzerland is a party to the Geneva Conventions and a country of the world that does not export weapons to military conflict zones.
Switzerland, which is not a member of NATO and the EU, supports EU sanctions against Russia imposed in connection with a special military operation in Ukraine. In March 2022, the Russian government approved a list of foreign states and territories that commit unfriendly actions against Russia, its companies and citizens. The Swiss Confederation is included in this list.
