Federal Council remains skeptical Swiss population clearly says yes to nuclear weapons ban
Regardless of party affiliation, age or region: in a new survey, the majority of the population is open to a Swiss commitment against nuclear weapons. But the Federal Council is sticking to its negative stance.
20.12.2025, 11:46
20.12.2025, 12:02
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- According to a Demoscope survey, around 70% of the Swiss population are in favor of joining the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - with majorities across all parties, regions and population groups.
- The Federal Council continues to reject accession, citing security policy concerns and the limited impact of the treaty without the participation of the nuclear powers.
- A popular initiative with over 135,000 signatures now aims to bring about a referendum on accession.
According to a survey conducted by Demoscope, the majority of voters support Switzerland's accession to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Around 70 percent of respondents answered the question positively.
The issue also found a majority across the board, regardless of factors such as gender, age, education, employment status, region and type of settlement, as the survey published on Saturday shows.
The same applied to party affiliation, with approval among SVP voters being the lowest at 51%. Among FDP voters, 68% were in favor, 78% among centrists and 92% among SP, Green and GLP voters.
A total of 1007 people throughout Switzerland were interviewed for the survey in November of this year. Demoscope conducted the survey on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) aims to outlaw nuclear weapons worldwide and achieve their complete abolition. Almost one hundred countries have joined the UN General Assembly treaty since it came into force in 2021. 74 of them have ratified the treaty. The official and unofficial nuclear powers and all NATO states have not yet signed the treaty.
National government sees no benefit
In Switzerland, meanwhile, the Swiss electorate is to decide whether or not to join: According to the Alliance for a Ban on Nuclear Weapons, it has collected over 135,000 signatures - enough for the popular initiative, as was reported in mid-December.
The background to this is that the Federal Council once again rejected the signing of the TPNW in March 2024. It considers Switzerland's commitment to a world without nuclear weapons within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to be more effective.
At the time, it stated that joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was not in Switzerland's interests in the current international environment, in which security policy aspects had once again come to the fore with a new war in Europe.
The national government had already rejected accession in 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, the Federal Council considers the treaty to have little impact because it is not recognized by the owners of nuclear weapons, but also by almost all Western and European countries.
