Secret document from Bern: Amherd’s new neutrality

Amherd promoted the Ukraine peace conference, which she wants to organize in Geneva together with Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (62). And left no doubt that she wants to bring Switzerland closer to NATO. This also means that Swiss neutrality must be reinterpreted.

For Viola Amherd (61), Norwegian King Harald V (86) is a kind of key witness that geopolitical dogmatism does not help in times of war. Norway is a member of NATO and is therefore anything but neutral. And yet the Arctic Circle country manages to offer its “good offices” to both sides in the conflict.

A Safety Policy Commission of Inquiry has been established. Critical of the neutrality initiative

Amherd believes that there is no active participation of Switzerland in the Western alliance. According to information from Blick, proponents of joining NATO are also in the minority in the security policy study committee it established. Nevertheless, the Commission is critical of the neutrality initiative. This is evident from a secret concept available to Blick.

The initiative of SVP circles aims to anchor Swiss neutrality in the constitution. In the future it will say: “Switzerland is neutral. Your neutrality is perpetual and armed.” But the study committee sees this as counterproductive: Switzerland’s credibility and predictability would be “strongly questioned” if the initiative were accepted, according to the draft position paper. It would be a political defeat.” Instead, Switzerland should commit to armed neutrality, which means a “militia army that is as fully equipped as possible, adequately fed and professionally trained.”

The study committee warns against a “stubborn automatism of neutrality”. If a European country or Switzerland is attacked, neutrality must be suspended. A decision of the UN Security Council that is binding under international law would be sufficient.

The Commission has also considered the question of whether neutrality policy should take precedence over neutrality law. Here too, decisions by the United Nations are crucial. Given the fact that not only states have waged war, but also smaller armed organizations have intervened in civil wars, the nineteenth-century neutrality law seems outdated.

Neutrality harms Switzerland as an armament location

The Study Committee can imagine a revision of the War Materials Act. But: “Isolated solutions (Lex Ukraine) are a desperate attempt to get out of the self-inflicted impasse,” the draft report says.

Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO partners have been angry about Swiss export rules for war materials. In northern Italy, 96 Ruag Leopard 1 tanks are rusting because they are not allowed to reach Ukraine via the Netherlands. The neutrality law has made Switzerland less attractive as an armament location. “After the experiences with the war in Ukraine, states will consider whether to buy military equipment from Switzerland,” Danish Ambassador Susanne Hyldelund (55) told Blick in November.

The example of the German defense company Rheinmetall shows what this can mean in practice. The company used to produce ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank in Altdorf UR, but due to Swiss export hurdles it now relies entirely on “Made in Germany”.

Last year, Rheinmetall invested several million euros in a new factory in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath. As a result, Switzerland is missing out on millions because the Heide location in Unterlüss (D) is being further expanded, but value creation in Switzerland is being limited.

As the German news magazine Spiegel reports, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65) is expected to lay the foundation stone of a munitions factory in Unterlüss tomorrow. This involves an investment of approximately 300 million. “Our goal is to guarantee security of supply for ammunition needs from 2025,” says Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger (61). “We in Germany must finally become more independent in the production of medium caliber ammunition.” That means: also more independent of the Confederation.

Still wanted though

Despite the cumbersome War Materials Act, there is still demand for Swiss military equipment. In December 2023, Rheinmetall was able to conclude two lucrative contracts with the Zurich-Oerlikon branch: Austria ordered a Skyguard anti-aircraft system worth more than 532 million euros, and NATO country Romania ordered an anti-aircraft artillery system worth 328 million euros. The Swiss arms industry is doing better than Swissmem lobbyists in the federal parliament sometimes think.

Viola Amherd’s study committee summarizes: “The dragon chasing this industry is not only the ban on re-exports, but it is not sufficiently understood that the War Materials Act is not always subject to the law of neutrality. This creates uncertainty and ultimately damages Switzerland’s reliability as a supplier and service provider.”

Neutrality needs to be revised

In the future, non-re-exports should be limited to a few years for certain countries with strict export laws. After that, the mostly Western states should be allowed to export the war materials.

The study committee also considers it conceivable that Switzerland interprets the concept of humanitarian aid more broadly. At the moment it is difficult to treat Ukrainian or Russian soldiers in Switzerland; international law stipulates otherwise. “Whether the healed soldier wants or needs to pick up a weapon again is irrelevant. The International Red Cross, the epitome of neutrality, cares for the ‘most vulnerable people’ unconditionally and without regard to the future, the committee states. “This must also apply to neutral Switzerland. This must be regulated through the neutrality policy.”

In the spirit of a revised ‘cooperative neutrality’, the study committee can imagine the possibilities of ‘taking more responsibility for security in Europe’. In other words, “The neutrals are not always the indifferent.”