Security policy reorientation Experts want less neutrality - and closer to NATO
More money for the army, revision of neutrality, cooperation with NATO: Swiss security policy needs to be rethought, experts recommend. Answers to the most important questions.
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- A year ago, the Department of Defense (DDPS) commissioned a commission to draw up recommendations for security policy.
- The final report has now been presented - with more than a hundred recommendations, some of which turn Switzerland's self-image on its head.
- President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the DDPS Viola Amherd is calling for a broad debate - including on neutrality.
A commission of experts appointed by the Department of Defense (DDPS) has spent a year examining Swiss security policy. The results presented on Thursday are over a hundred recommendations for the future.
For example, the commission calls for the army to focus more on its defense capabilities and to increase the military budget to one percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030. It also recommends relaxing the ban on the re-export of Swiss weapons to certain countries.
The neutrality policy should also be fundamentally reconsidered. It should be geared more towards its security policy function and handled more flexibly. A majority of the Commission recommends aligning the policy of neutrality more closely with the UN Charter and taking greater account of the distinction between aggressor and victim.
Why did the DDPS set up the commission in the first place?
The war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed the security situation in Europe. According to the Federal Council, this raises fundamental strategic questions about the future direction of Swiss security policy, just as it did before and after the Cold War. This also required a perspective from outside the Federal Administration. It was only the third time such a committee had been set up since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the outbreak of the Cold War.
What was the specific remit of the experts?
The so-called study commission was to fundamentally reflect on Swiss security policy and draw up proposals for the future. The 68-page final report is intended to provide impetus for the Security Policy Strategy 2025, for which the State Secretariat for Security Policy (Sepos) has just begun work. The report is also intended to contribute to the public and parliamentary debate.
Who was on the commission?
The committee was chaired by Valentin Vogt, former President of the Swiss Employers' Association. The report was written by political philosopher Katja Gentinetta. Professors of international law and international relations as well as independent experts on security policy also worked on the committee. The six parliamentary groups, older and younger people and various language regions were also represented.
What proposals does the commission make?
Many. In the report, the commission makes over one hundred recommendations in seven areas on how a future-oriented security policy could be shaped. For example, it calls for the army to focus more on its defense capabilities and to increase the military budget to one percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
It also recommends relaxing the ban on the re-export of Swiss weapons to certain countries. The neutrality policy should also be fundamentally reconsidered. It should be geared more towards its security policy function and handled more flexibly.
Internationally, the Commission recommends entering into defense cooperation with NATO and the EU. To this end, the expectations of the country's own defense capability and the counter-performance should be defined.
According to the Commission, these eight points are the most important for Switzerland's security
- Firstly, a comprehensive defense concept should be developed.
- Secondly, the army and other security policy instruments should be geared towards the intensified situation
- Thirdly, the neutrality policy should be revised.
- Fourthly, more NATO cooperation agreements are to be concluded for joint defense.
- Fifthly, military peacebuilding is to be expanded.
- Sixthly, the ban on the re-export of Swiss weapons should be lifted.
- Seventhly, foreign trade and economic policy should be seen as part of the country's economic supply.
- And eighthly, precautions should be taken against influence and disinformation.
Did the Commission agree on the recommendations?
Only in rare cases, as Commission Chairman Valentin Vogt admitted. The Commission voted on each of the recommendations individually. In most cases, there was no unanimity. Of the 23 members at the beginning, 21 were present until the end. Vogt himself described this as a "good achievement". He described the two resignations as a "political maneuver".
What does Defense Minister Viola Amherd say about the report?
Speaking to the media, President Viola Amherd said that she had not yet studied the report in detail and was taking note of the Commission's recommendations. The debate on solutions in security policy had begun. The report plays its part in this. The question of neutrality must also be discussed on a broad basis. It is clear that our own defense capability must be strengthened.
What are the reactions from the parties and political initiatives?
"Politically one-sided study commission presents a courtesy report" was the title of the SVP's statement. It firmly rejects rapprochement with both NATO and the EU.
The SP also sharply criticized the report's conclusions. "The Commission essentially served as a recipient for the visions of the DDPS," it said.
The Green Party's criticism is scathing. "The report is a farce", they write. They criticize the lack of an open-ended process and the one-sided composition of the study commission.
The group Switzerland without an Army (Gsoa), which was not represented on the commission, describes the report as an "alibi exercise". Above all, it serves "the army's rearmament wishes and the interests of the arms lobby".
The bourgeois-dominated Swiss Security Alliance is less critical of the report - probably also because it had various representatives on the committee. The report is "an urgent appeal to the Federal Council and Parliament to implement a comprehensive overall defense of Switzerland".
What happens now?
According to Defense Minister Viola Amherd, the aim is to define the new security policy strategy by the end of 2025. However, this does not yet increase security per se, stated Commission Chairman Vogt as a personal remark.
Parliament must "finally take responsibility". Just debating is not enough. "It would be bad if people formed an opinion on this issue and then never changed it," said Amherd. Her department is "not about turning everything upside down". However, it may need to "set a new course".
