In 2023, Swiss companies exported war materials to 58 countries for 696.8 million francs, based on SECO approvals. This corresponds to a decrease of approximately 27 percent compared to the previous year. At the time, war materials were exported for 955 million francs.
Total goods exports from Switzerland in 2023 were about 1.2 percent lower than the previous year. The share of weapons of war accounts for 0.18 percent of the total goods exports of the Swiss economy.
Germany as the largest customer
The five most important customer countries were again Germany with deliveries worth 168.5 million francs, followed by Denmark with 73.6 million, the US with 54.3 million, Saudi Arabia with 53.3 million and Romania with 39.7 million Frank.
In the Ukraine or Russia Switzerland is not allowed to supply war materials due to the KMG War Materials Act. However, in November 2023 there were reports that ammunition still ended up in Ukraine via Poland. When it comes to arms deliveries, Switzerland makes no distinction between the Russian aggressor and the defending Ukraine. The government's foreign requests for re-exports were consistently rejected by the Federal Council: Germany was not allowed to pass on Gepard ammunition, nor to supply Denmark with Piranha wheeled infantry fighting vehicles.
Israel was still supplied in 2023
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) told the NZZ it was on the case. The whole thing is reminiscent of the illegal re-export of eleven Eagle reconnaissance vehicles from Germany to Ukraine. Seco has now blocked the affected supplier. It is not yet known whether the Polish authorities in the present case approved the re-export to Ukraine and thus ignored Swiss law.
Bee Israel In 2023, war materials worth approximately 88,000 francs were delivered. This concerned material from category KM 6 (tanks and other land vehicles). Israel did not begin its attack on the Gaza Strip until the fall of 2023.
Most deliveries to Europe
Larger transactions in the reporting period were the export of various types of ammunition and ammunition components to Germany (98.1 million francs), armored wheeled vehicles and their spare parts to Denmark (54.6 million), specific ammunition for air defense systems to Saudi Arabia3 (40 million francs ), million), armored wheeled vehicles and their spare parts to Romania (39.6 million) and various types of ammunition and ammunition parts to the Netherlands (26.2 million).
Broken down by continent, exports to Europe accounted for 76.1 percent (2022: 50.4 percent) of all exports in 2023, to Asia 12.9 percent (36.1 percent), to America 9.6 percent (7, 1 percent), to Australia 1.2 percent (2.4 percent) and to Africa 0.2 percent (4.0 percent).
Ammunition makes up the largest share
If you look at the war material categories, in 2023 41.9 percent consisted of ammunition and ammunition parts (item KM 3) and 20.2 percent of armored vehicles and associated parts (KM 6). 9.2 percent were fire control systems and associated components (KM 5), 7.5 percent were weapons of any caliber and associated components (KM 2), 6.7 percent were fighter aircraft parts (KM 10) and 6.4 percent were small arms and weapon parts (KM 2). KM1).
Due to the principle of equal treatment under the law of neutrality, Switzerland cannot respond to requests to transfer war materials of Swiss origin to Ukraine as long as that country is involved in an international armed conflict. In addition, the approval criteria of the Swiss War Materials Act also exclude the supply of war materials to countries involved in an international armed conflict.
According to Seco spokesperson Maienfisch, it is not possible to quantify whether and how many authorized accessories for weapon systems have reached Ukraine via third countries. Seco has no overview of what happens to these parts, he said last summer.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
