‘Federal Council hides behind letters’

Should the Federal Council allow Germany to pass Swiss ammunition for the “Gepar” anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine? Since Germany and Ukraine knocked on the door of the federal government, politicians in Bern have also been arguing about this question. Without the approval of the state government, Germany is doomed to do nothing. But the Federal Council says no – Swiss law does not allow transfer.

While the SVP clearly rejects the idea – this time fully in line with the Federal Council – the center accuses the state government of not providing aid. And in turn get a good deal on the roof. “With the kind help of the Mitte parliamentary group”, the parliament itself criticized not so long ago all the leeway of the Federal Council for the transfer of Swiss ammunition to Ukraine. Because in the course of the counter-proposal against the correction initiative, it tightened up the War Materials Act.

Landolt has tightened the law

However, that is only half true, says the man who initiated the tightening up more than four years ago. Center National Councilor Martin Landolt (54) filed a motion in 2018 that the Federal Council wanted to curb arms exports and eventually led to tightening of the law.

“I am absolutely in favor of us giving Germany the approval – the tightening of the law will not prevent us from doing that,” the former BDP president said today. The accompanying Article 22a of the War Materials Act allows explicit exceptions, he explains: Export is prohibited, for example, if there is a high risk in the country of destination that the war materials to be exported will end up with an undesirable end recipient. “I don’t know what is undesirable in Ukraine,” Landolt said.

Exceptions are possible

Moreover, the issue at issue in the German case is not dealt with in this Article 22a, but elsewhere. And here too the law allows exceptions, constitutional lawyer Thomas Cottier (72) recently told the “Tages-Anzeiger”.

Landolt is also convinced that the Federal Council can assert overriding interests. And he thinks, “When I see how guns were privately delivered in the past, it amazes me how the government now hides behind letters.”

But besides the neutrality policy issues that arise with such arms deals, there are other risks. Just over the weekend, Finnish police — as did the international criminal investigation agency Interpol — warned that weapons destined for Ukraine had fallen into the wrong hands.

What is the risk of abuse?

For example, assault rifles were found on Finnish criminals. Weapons destined for Ukraine have also been seized in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. The trade runs through rocker groups such as Bandidos MC, who have representatives in every major Ukrainian city. “Ukraine has received large quantities of weapons and that is good,” Finland’s chief of police Christer Ahlgren told Finnish radio station Yle. “But we’ll be dealing with these weapons for decades to come.”

So what if Swiss weapons show up in organized crime scenes or in other conflicts within a few years? “Unfortunately, one can never completely rule out the possibility that Swiss weapons fall into the wrong hands,” says Landolt. Such a question would probably arise in the case of assault rifles. In the specific case it is different: “But with tank ammunition, the risk seems manageable to me.”