By Marleen Kaesebier and John Revill
ZURICH, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Swiss voters on Sunday firmly rejected a proposal to adopt a more restrictive form of neutrality that would have blocked their country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO.
All cantons and about 70% of voters rejected the proposal for a strictly defined version of neutrality to be written into the Swiss constitution, final results from the Federal Statistical Office showed.
“This result is not a vote against neutrality. Switzerland was neutral yesterday, it is neutral today, and it will remain neutral in the future,” Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said at a press conference following the outcome.
While Swiss neutrality has been internationally recognised since the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, how the government implements it is not spelled out.
The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has said that Switzerland’s traditional position has been eroded after Bern imposed sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The campaign had funded posters across the country urging people to vote “No war, yes to neutrality”, featuring white peace doves, ahead of the vote.
Cassis said the rejection allows Switzerland to continue deciding on economic sanctions on a case-by-case basis and to cooperate with partners when doing so strengthens the country’s security, which, he stressed, also depends on the security of its neighbours and the European continent.
SWISS GOVERNMENT, MOST PARTIES OPPOSE THE PROPOSAL
Apart from the SVP, most parties and the Swiss government opposed the proposal. The Green Party, the Social Democrats (SP), the Centre Party and the FDP all expressed relief over Sunday’s outcome.
“Voters understood what the SVP wanted: it wanted Switzerland to isolate itself internationally and shirk its responsibilities when international law is being trampled on,” said Sibel Arslan, a lawmaker for the Green Party.
An FDP statement said the decision was important for an armed, neutral Switzerland that retains the ability to act.
The SVP meanwhile accepted the defeat and said it currently had no plans for further action.
“I’m of course not pleased with the result,” said SVP lawmaker Lukas Reimann, adding that the commitment to Swiss neutrality expressed by all sides during the campaign was encouraging.
“It is absolutely clear that neutrality belongs to Switzerland and is part of Switzerland’s identity,” he said. “Going forward, we will judge the opponents of the initiative by that commitment.”
If the government or opponents of the initiative were to stray from neutrality, for example by adopting tougher sanctions, the party would need to become active again, Reimann said.
‘SWISS VOTERS LIKE NEUTRALITY’
Fabio Wasserfallen, a professor of European politics at the University of Bern, said before the vote: “Swiss voters like neutrality, but they approve of how the government is implementing it at present.”
“They are also generally in favour of the sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, and don’t want that to change.”
The campaign wanted the constitution to stipulate that Switzerland cannot join or cooperate with any military or defence alliance unless attacked, and that it refrain from joining any sanctions unless approved by the United Nations.
(Reporting by John Revill and Marleen Kaesebier in Zurich; Editing by Toby Chopra and Jan Harvey)
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