Switzerland rejects proposal to re-export weapons to Ukraine

Swiss lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have allowed third countries to transfer Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine.

Thus, the majority of deputies of the lower chamber, the National Council, voted against the parliamentary initiative.

Accordingly, the initiative has now been removed from the agenda, due to the fact that the relevant committee of another chamber of the parliament – the Council of States – had already rejected this idea earlier.

According to DW, the legislative initiative was about allowing the re-export of weapons until the end of 2025.

Its supporters argued that Switzerland should provide more support to Ukraine and contribute to European security.

At the same time, the opponents noted that the indirect supply of weapons was problematic from the point of view of Switzerland’s principles of neutrality.

However, the discussion about weapons for Ukraine continues even after the decision of the National Council. It is stated on the website of the legislative body of Switzerland that several proposals on this topic are currently under consideration in the parliament.

In particular, it is not about an exception, but rather fundamental changes to the so-called law on military materials.

Despite requests from Kyiv and its allies, Switzerland has so far refused to allow countries that own Swiss-made weapons to re-export them to Ukraine, as well as rejected direct requests from Germany, Spain and Denmark.

Switzerland prohibits the re-export of its weapons to countries at war, but the country’s long-standing tradition of neutrality has been debated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As previously reported, the Swiss defense company RUAG wants to sell 96 Leopard 1 tanks to Germany in order to then transfer them to Ukraine.

Company representatives have already submitted an official letter to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs to obtain approval for the sale.