women, line up!

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The Swiss army has been complaining for years: the soldiers are running out. Fewer and fewer Swiss are serving. “At the end of the decade, we will be missing about a quarter of the supplies,” army chief Thomas Süssli, 56, said in an interview with Blick – some 30,000 soldiers.

The Bundesrat has been working on a new compulsory service for some time now. Two variants are still under discussion: one would combine civil service and civil defense, while the other would extend conscription to women. Concrete plans should be available by 2024.

‘Then it is clear: women are going too’

However it turns out: Defense Minister Viola Amherd (60) absolutely wants women to have a mandatory orientation day. The mid-Federal Council already announced this to the Council of States last autumn. And she has now confirmed this again in the SRF program “Eco Talk”. Today the information day is only mandatory for men.

Young women interested in the military are almost hesitant to make time for a volunteer event, Amherd explains the mandatory information day. There are certainly employers who have responded positively and supported this. But there are others too. And there’s the environment that says, “You don’t have to, so don’t do that!”

“If, on the other hand, it’s mandatory, it’s clear: women go too,” says Amherd. Then they would also see what interesting opportunities there were in the army.

Miles away from set goals

Since taking office, the mid-federal councilman has made it her mission to promote women. Army chief Süssli had even announced the goal of reaching a 10 percent share of women by 2030. But we are still miles away from that: the share has risen since 2019 – but from 0.7 to just 1.4 percent.

Such an obligation for women has been under discussion for a long time. SVP federal councilor Guy Parmelin (63) had already nominated it in 2016 as Minister of Defense. And even then the plans were controversial. For example, the cantonal military directors spoke out against this because the federal constitution had to be amended because of the obligation. Amherd admits that its new approach cannot be implemented overnight either.

Very controversial in parliament

The VBS plans are controversial in parliament. FDP security politician Maja Riniker (45) would even be in favor of general conscription, she explained to Blick in the autumn. But it’s good to take such a small step first. It sounded similar from Central National Councilor Ida Glanzmann (64): “Women don’t have to be in the army for long. For them, the army remains voluntary.”

The left-wing Council remains critical. Women could join the army today if they wanted to, says green council member Marionna Schlatter (42): “You may wonder why hardly anyone does it.” The VBS wants to make the army more attractive to women. “Because that doesn’t seem to work, women have to be forced now,” adds SP security politician Franziska Roth (56). “It seems that Federal Councilor Amherd is giving up prematurely.” (dba)

Source:Blick