Switzerland rejects stricter interpretation of its neutrality

Voters in Switzerland overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would have imposed a stricter interpretation of the country's neutrality, with more than 70 percent opposing the measure, according to official results. The initiative would have barred the European Union from imposing sanctions without UN approval and prevented Switzerland from developing closer ties with NATO. Russia's full‑scale invasion of Ukraine revived the debate over Switzerland's centuries‑old non‑alignment, and Moscow openly backed the initiative, which was championed by the right‑wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) and opposed by the federal government and all other major parties. Lukas Golder, co‑director of probe institute Gfs.bern told Swiss nationalist broadcaster SRF that Swiss voters had not rejected embracing its neutrality but that the ballot showed Switzerland was in favour of sanctions against Russia. "People person a wide thought of what Switzerland's neutrality is expected to achieve," helium said. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said during a caller televised statement that "neutrality has ever been applied with a grade of flexibility". He stressed that Switzerland had nary plans to assistance a prohibition connected selling arms to countries successful conflict, including Ukraine, and that "neutrality does not mean indifference". He added that Switzerland would "not look distant erstwhile we spot violations of the precise planetary rules that let america to unrecorded successful peace". Switzerland was internationally recognised in 1815 when the state was granted "eternal neutrality" at the Congress of Vienna, during a period of warfare and upheaval in Europe. This neutrality was legally defined by the Hague Convention of 1907, which forbade Switzerland supplying weapons to countries at war. It previously rejected a petition from Germany for ammunition for tanks being sent to Kyiv. Switzerland remained neutral during World War Two. It also banked gold looted by the Nazis and, in a decision designed to support Nazi Germany from invading, turned away thousands of Jewish refugees. Switzerland apologised for the policies in the 1990s. Switzerland's strategy of direct democracy means that major governmental decisions are often deferred to the voters via referenda.