87 personalities want to realign Swiss neutrality
Published: Wednesday, May 29th 2024, 15:10
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87 personalities from politics and civil society want to realign Swiss neutrality on the basis of a 10-point plan. Among other things, they advocate closer cooperation with NATO and the EU and, under certain circumstances, are in favor of supplying weapons to countries in conflict.
The counter-proposal to SVP heavyweight Christoph Blocher's neutrality initiative was presented in Bern on Wednesday. The promoters focused on the demand that neutrality must be defined by security policy. They criticized the Federal Council's practice of neutrality in the Ukraine conflict and wanted more support for the country attacked by the aggressor Russia.
Among the almost 90 initial signatories of the manifesto from outside the SVP were the three former Federal Councillors Joseph Deiss (CVP/Centre), Samuel Schmid (SVP/BDP) and Kaspar Villiger (FDP). The core group consists of Professor Thomas Cottier, historian Marco Jorio, former police commander Markus Mohler, constitutional law expert and former FDP member of the Council of States René Rhinow, international law expert Urs Saxer and retired ambassadors Philippe Welti and Daniel Woker.
They want to "rethink neutrality" and bring it into line with regional and global political realities. Neutrality is "only a means, not an end".
Regional cooperation on security issues is essential to secure the existence of the state, they said. The signatories of the manifesto also spoke out in principle in favor of arms deliveries in the event of clear violations of the prohibition of aggression enshrined in the UN Charter. "This does not violate neutrality."
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