Ukraine seeks parliamentary contact about Swiss war material

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council (APK-N) has received a letter from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament. The letter arrived at the end of last week, Commission President Franz Grüter (SVP/LU) confirmed media reports on Tuesday evening.

A physical exchange with Swiss parliamentarians is not desirable, but a virtual one, Grüter told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The parliamentary services are now examining how this exchange from APK to APK should take place. He may first talk to the president of the Ukrainian MOT, Grüter said.

Online meetings possible

A visit is not planned, the parliamentary services also write on request. The reply to the Ukrainian Commission is in preparation, but has not yet been submitted. An online meeting seems possible.

The online portal “watson.ch” had previously reported, citing the “Wall Street Journal”, that a delegation from the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign policy committee wanted to travel to Bern to advocate for a change in Switzerland’s stance on exports regulations for Swiss war material.

Exceptions are discussed

The Swiss position is internationally disputed. Parliament has recently considered the issue of indirect arms exports to Ukraine. Several proposals to amend the legal framework are currently under consideration.

The Security Policy Committee of the National Council (SIK-N) would like an exception for Ukraine. Its sister committee of the Council of States, on the other hand, wants to limit the validity of non-re-export declarations for certain countries that purchase Swiss war material to five years.

According to a recent survey by the Sotomo Institute, a majority of the Swiss population is in favor of relaxing the rules on the transfer of Swiss war material. 55 percent believe that third countries should be allowed to supply Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine. (SDA)

Source: Blick