The battle for arms exports begins

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Now it’s about heavy artillery. Germany has asked Switzerland to buy stored Leopard 2 tanks, Blick announced. They are intended to replace tanks that Germany and other EU countries have supplied to Ukraine – but will not pass on to Kiev themselves.

And indeed: the defense department of Viola Amherd (60) and the army command are open. After preliminary clarifications, it would be possible to do without a limited number of tanks. But for that to happen, Parliament must agree and put them out of service.

“Signal for the further course of the debate”

The first course will be set next week. Then, for the first time, Parliament will discuss two of the six initiatives aimed at enabling the transfer of Swiss arms. “That will be a signal for the further course of the debate,” says FDP chairman Thierry Burkart (47). “The Council of States must show its colours.”

The Council of States will discuss a motion by Councilor Burkart on Monday. He wants to relax the recently tightened law on war materials. The re-export ban for countries with the same values ​​must be lifted. Then Germany could supply ammunition to Ukraine. Switzerland would not be involved, so the law of neutrality would no longer be affected.

The National Council in turn will decide on a motion from its security policy committee on Wednesday. This should allow weapons to be passed on to a country at war, such as Ukraine today, if this country exercises its right of self-defense under international law. The UN Security Council or the UN General Assembly would have to declare a war of aggression illegal under international law by a two-thirds majority.

Both advancements are on point

But: Both advancements are bad on point. Majorities are very tight in both chambers. So tight that even the factions themselves dare not make a prediction. Even individual absences can be decisive.

The attitude of the SVP is clear. For reasons of neutrality, she wants to reject all proposals. There are no deviations, they say. In the Council of States, the SP and the Greens are also against Burkart’s motion. “This is not an aid initiative from Ukraine, but an arms export initiative,” was the reasoning. This gives the opponents 19 of the 44 decisive votes in the council. 44 because the President of the Council of States, Brigitte Häberli-Koller (64), will not vote and one seat is currently vacant.

Opposing them is the FDP with 12 votes, which Burkart wants to support. The middle bracket with 13 votes will therefore be decisive for the competition. Although the party leadership is against, the middle council members want to approve the motion with a large majority. Tendency: The motion is narrowly accepted. But then it must fail in the National Council.

The signals in the National Council are similar: SVP and Greens are against – with almost 85 votes out of 200. Mitte, SP and GLP, on the other hand, are in favour. An FDP majority should also agree. Together they could get about 100 votes. Trend: This motion is also narrowly accepted. But she, too, is likely to fail in the second council, as before in the pre-advisory committee.

‘The Bundesrat takes no leadership at all’

However, Parliament does not want to give up so easily. “We have to keep up the pressure on the Bundesrat,” says Mitte party leader Philipp Matthias Bregy (44). “He can’t just hide behind neutrality because there are solutions that are compatible with neutrality.” GLP faction leader Tiana Moser (43) also sees it that way. FDP leader Burkart is also clear: “The Federal Council must show more leadership on this issue.”

Switzerland must do its part to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. In fact, it doesn’t even matter which initiative gets through, you hear in parliament. “We just need some sort of solution.”

Source:Blick