A commission from the Council of States of the Federal Assembly, Switzerland’s upper house of parliament, has recommended loosening export controls on Swiss military equipment, which could potentially benefit Ukraine in the future.
This was reported by the Swiss edition Blickwrites “European Truth”.
The Commission, taking into account the country’s long-standing policy of military neutrality, adopted proposals that, after a similar decision the Nursing Committee of the Lower House of Parliament in Januarynow it is possible to prepare a corresponding bill on the possible re-export of Swiss weapons to third countries under certain strict conditions.
Today, Switzerland’s neutrality prohibits the supply of weapons directly to the war zones. This rule applies even if another country bought the weapon from Switzerland. When buying, buyer countries must sign a so-called non-re-export declaration.
The representatives of the committee decided that in the future the Swiss government could, in individual cases, limit the validity of such a declaration to five years.
However, certain conditions must be met. The country receiving the weapons must not seriously violate human rights. In addition, there should be no danger that military materials will be used against the civilian population.
The country must not be involved in an internal or international armed conflict. The only exception is if a country, such as Ukraine, defends itself against aggression in accordance with international law.
The last point should be determined by the UN: the re-export of Swiss weapons to the war zone is proposed to be allowed only if the UN General Assembly recognizes such self-defense by a two-thirds majority, or if the Security Council passes a resolution to that effect.
Now the committee on security policy of the National Council must develop an appropriate bill. It is not known when Ukraine will be able to really benefit from this decision. If the proposal passes in parliament, a referendum is possible, and then the people will decide the fate of the re-export of Swiss weapons. It can take some time.
Many questions still remain open – among other things, it will be necessary to study in detail whether this decision will be compatible with the law on neutrality.
The parliament predicts that if the procedure for approving the re-export of weapons ends positively, then the decision can really come into force next spring.
The decision was made only as a result of serious pressure from abroad. Germany, for example, wanted to transfer to Ukraine ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft installations, as well as machine gun ammunition. Denmark applied to Bern for permission to supply Piranha III armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. However Switzerland rejected both applications.
Read in detail about how neutral Switzerland tends to re-export arms to Ukraine.
2023-05-12 05:07:52
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