No Swiss weapons for Ukraine!

class=”sc-97fd9fa8-0 jNFKxv”>

Swiss politicians find it difficult to support Ukraine with arms. Hardly anyone would consider handing over Swiss weapons directly to Kiev. But Parliament cannot bring itself to agree to indirect supplies either.

But it won’t admit it. On Wednesday, the National Council partially approved an initiative by its Security Policy Committee that would allow other states to transfer Swiss arms to Ukraine under certain conditions. The SP had brought this in.

Only if the UN condemns it

Specifically, the Commission’s proposal provided that the Federal Council could allow other states to transfer Swiss-made weapons to belligerent states such as Ukraine if the UN Security Council determined that this country’s attacker had violated the international prohibition against the use of force. or violence. if the UN General Assembly finds, by a two-thirds majority, a violation of the prohibition of the use of force under international law.

The Council has accepted part of the initiative: it says yes to the transfer of arms – but only if the UN Security Council condemns a war as an attack in violation of international law. Only: in the case of Ukraine that will not happen because Russia has a right of veto in the Security Council. So nothing will change for Ukraine. The FDP is responsible for this Buebetrickli. She claims that a UN General Assembly resolution is not binding.

During the debate, Minister of Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin (63) protested in vain that the decision corresponded to the status quo. Re-exports can already be approved today by a resolution of the UN Security Council.

Otherwise, Switzerland today prohibits other states under all circumstances from passing on Swiss weapons to third countries. This is justified by Swiss neutrality.

‘No interest in losing Ukraine’

However, the case of Ukraine increasingly questions this interpretation of neutrality – also because it puts Switzerland under international pressure. “We can have no interest in Ukraine losing this war,” security politician Priska Seiler Graf (54, SP) summarizes the dilemma. And given the legal restrictions on neutrality, this “smallest possible gap is a viable way to help Ukraine.”

However, such considerations cannot gain a majority. On Monday, the Council of States rejected a similar initiative. (sf)

Source:Blick