O The Swiss parliament refused the indirect transfer of Swiss arms and ammunition to Ukraine through third countries, maintaining the country’s policy of neutralitythe parliamentary services announced on Friday.
The decision was put to the vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday evening, with 98 votes in favour, 75 against and two abstentionsaccording to the Swiss information portal SBI.
It was a proposal by the parliamentary committee for security policy to allow the export of Swiss arms to Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion, the parliament said in a statement quoted by Spain’s Europa Press agency.
Swiss neutrality laws expressly prohibit aid to countries involved in armed conflict.
So far, Switzerland has refused to allow Germany to supply Swiss ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces, despite the fact that it was handed over to the German government several years ago.
Proponents of opening an exception believe that Switzerland should give Ukraine more support and contribute to European security.
Opponents of the measure fear that the breach of neutrality will create the impression that Switzerland is “too close” to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, the acronym in English), as they claimed during the debate.
Despite the refusal, the parliamentary committee will raise the idea of handing over arms and ammunition if the UN Security Council declares that there has been a violation of international law by Russia.
Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied the Ukrainian army with weapons to fight Russian troops invaded the neighboring country on February 24, 2022.
They also imposed economic sanctions against Russian interests to try to reduce Moscow’s ability to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
The conflict plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945)..
The number of civilian and military casualties is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, add that it will be high.
Source: DN
