Federal Council outlines closer cooperation with NATO This megayacht has just left its construction site – guessing at the owner

The Federal Council wants to strengthen cooperation with the North Atlantic defense alliance NATO. For example, the sending of military personnel on training missions for third parties or the transit of foreign military personnel through Switzerland for training purposes should be considered.

“A legal basis must be created here while maintaining the limits of the neutrality law,” said a report commissioned by parliament and approved by the Federal Council on Wednesday. Based on the conclusions of the report, the Federal Council will investigate whether and – if so – which measures should be further deepened or implemented.

The report explains how deeper, institutionalized cooperation with NATO can be achieved while maintaining neutrality. “Switzerland has largely imposed the current restrictions on itself; It is therefore up to her to abandon them or at least adapt them within the framework of the neutrality law,” the Federal Council wrote.

He further stated in the report that no obligations, dependencies or limitations should be entered into that would be incompatible with neutrality. In peacetime, a neutrality clause may be necessary for certain partnerships. “In this case, it would be up to Switzerland to decide whether to activate such a clause.”

Interoperability in focus

As part of closer cooperation with NATO, the Federal Council includes, for example, training services of militia units in training areas in neighboring countries or in multilateral exercises. The possibility of deploying individual militia members outside the traditional military peacebuilding services for operations in multilateral staff structures or for training missions for third parties is also being investigated.

The clarifications also relate to military mobility, namely the legal requirements for possible transit of military formations from partner countries. Overall, interoperability needs to be expanded. “This could be crucial for survival in the extreme event of a military attack.”

Interoperability must ensure that the military uses the same terminology and military standards as NATO and especially its neighboring countries. The Federal Council wrote that it is crucial for the further development of interoperability that the military is involved in drawing up and developing common standards with NATO.

A give and take

As a neutral state, Switzerland wants to defend itself independently, according to the Federal Council. However, in the event of an attack, it is free to organize its defense together with other states. The Partnership for Peace, as the current institutional framework for cooperation with NATO, makes it possible to intensify cooperation in the future, including in the defense sector.

According to the Federal Council, cooperation in general should be more focused than before on aspects that are important for strengthening defense capabilities. Because cooperation is a matter of give and take and requires the willingness of partners, Switzerland should make a substantial contribution, for example by participating in multinational competence centers for armed forces and in military peacebuilding in conflict areas.

“Switzerland benefits in any case from a strong NATO,” the Federal Council wrote. Switzerland is not in a position to defend itself against all potential threats on its own. The proliferation of ballistic guided weapons in particular poses a threat that Switzerland cannot tackle alone.

Costs up to 100 million francs

The Federal Council had already indicated in the supplementary report to the security policy report of September 2022 that security and defense policy should focus more consistently than before on international cooperation, especially with NATO, the EU and neighboring countries. In the latest report, he now writes that it is “essential that additional resources are made available to intensify multilateral cooperation and that the relevant legal bases are developed.”

The Federal Council estimates the costs for in-depth cooperation at 15 to 100 million francs per year. The annual costs for the current collaboration average approximately 4 million francs. (sda)