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The “Security” series of studies has existed in Switzerland since 1999. Today, the Swiss Army is publishing the 2023 edition together with the Military Academy (MILAK) and the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. The opinion of the Swiss about security, accession to NATO, the need for the army and future prospects has changed in recent months (database: see infobox).

How are we personally?

The personal sense of security of the Swiss has hardly changed compared to January 2022. The general sense of security has been very high for years, and neither the pandemic nor the war in Ukraine can change that:

That’s how it is in Switzerland

We are less optimistic about Switzerland’s future. Compared to last year, the share of optimistic answers dropped significantly by five percentage points to 81 percent. However, this is slightly more than in the interim study in June 2022:

And so we see the state of the world

Those surveyed see the situation in the world as significantly less rosy than personal security or that of Switzerland. Only 24 percent are positive about it. That is even seven percentage points less than in January 2022.

In this context, the question of the world situation has been asked since 2015. The value has never been as low as it is now:

But what are the main reasons or main threats? The question was openly asked by the study leaders. 65 different threats were mentioned, three of them by far the most common:

When it came to wars and conflicts, the war in Ukraine was mentioned most often. The fear of using nuclear weapons was also often mentioned. When it comes to the destruction of nature, climate change with its direct and indirect consequences is the main concern, and when it comes to financial and economic wars, inflation is currently the main concern.

Notable in the top 5: With the exception of the destruction of nature, four themes are directly related to the war in Ukraine.

Switzerland and NATO

Opinions have also changed over the past year on how Switzerland should participate internationally. About 83 percent are still against joining the EU. However, the share of those who would join the EU without reservation rose from 13 to 18 percent within two years. The number of votes that Switzerland should be more active in the UN and make peacekeeping troops available has also increased slightly.

An important topic lately has been NATO. Here, a maximum value is reached at 55 percent in the “approximate” area (the question was not asked in January 2022). That Switzerland should join NATO is also higher than ever at almost a third. Since 2019, this share has increased by no less than 13 percentage points:

In connection with NATO, of course, there is also their own army. Fewer and fewer residents here feel that we are on the safe side if we go it alone. About a third still think this is the right way to go. In 2016 that was still half, since then the approval has been falling every year:

Switzerland and its neutrality

An important (discussion) topic in recent weeks has been Switzerland’s neutrality. Overall, this is important to more than 90 percent of Swiss people – although approval has lost six percentage points within a year.

Militarily, Switzerland should remain neutral – 57 percent think that’s the right attitude. Still a minority. However, the attitude that Switzerland should take a clear stance in military conflicts abroad has clearly increased.

However, the past few weeks and months have shown that a rethink is likely underway, despite a largely high degree of agreement with neutrality. Just over half believe that military neutrality can no longer be credibly protected. That is 11 percentage points more than in January 2021.

An even bigger nosedive was the statement that neutrality keeps us from getting involved in international conflicts. Only 55 percent are of this opinion: