Swiss voters set to reject tighter neutrality rules that would curb NATO cooperation

ZURICH — Swiss voters looked set Sunday to reject a proposal to adopt a more restrictive form of neutrality that ⁠would have blocked their country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO.

More than two-thirds voted against a proposal for a strictly defined version of neutrality to be written into the Swiss constitution, according to the latest referendum projections by state broadcaster SRF.

While Swiss neutrality has been internationally ⁠recognized since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ​1815, ⁠how the government implements it is not spelled out.

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has said Switzerland’s traditional position has been eroded after Bern imposed sanctions ⁠on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The campaign has funded posters across the ​country ⁠urging people to vote “No war, yes ‌to neutrality,” featuring white peace doves ahead of the vote.

Still, opinion polls suggest voters will reject the proposal, with one of the latest surveys showing 68% against with 31% ‌in favor.

Most parties oppose proposal

Fabio Wasserfallen, ‌a professor of European politics at the University of Bern, said: “Swiss voters like neutrality, but they approve of how the government is implementing it at present.

“They are also generally in favor of the sanctions on Russia ⁠over the war in Ukraine, and don’t want that to change.”

The campaign wants the constitution to stipulate that Switzerland cannot join or cooperate with any military or defense alliance unless attacked and that it refrain from joining any sanctions unless approved by the United Nations.

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It says Swiss neutrality has served the country well in the past, keeping it out of both world wars, and also helps Bern offer its “good offices” to help ‌negotiate peace between warring parties.

“Switzerland has not had a war for 200 ​years because it is permanently armed and neutral,” said Christoph Blocher, the billionaire businessman ‌and backer of the SVP.

“But neutrality ⁠has been followed less and less in recent years,” he told Reuters, ⁠with Russia now seeing Switzerland as a party to the conflict because of the sanctions.

Apart from the SVP, ‌most parties and the ​Swiss government oppose the proposal, with Foreign Minister ‌Ignazio Cassis saying it would harm national ​security and prevent Switzerland from training with NATO.