Switzerland decides to abolish neutrality

Switzerland is no longer neutral. That is the only honest way to read the result of Sunday's referendum. By a margin of more than 70 percent, Swiss voters rejected the initiative to enshrine "perpetual and armed neutrality" in the constitution. The proposal, backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, was defeated decisively.

The Swiss government, parliament, and nearly all major parties campaigned against the initiative, arguing it would leave the country less able to respond to international crises. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said the result was not a rejection of neutrality itself, insisting that "Switzerland was neutral yesterday, is neutral today, and will remain neutral in the future." But that is a fiction. What the vote actually did was preserve the government's freedom to cooperate with NATO and to impose sanctions without UN approval. That is not neutrality. That is alignment.

The initiative sought to define Swiss neutrality as "perpetual and armed." It would have barred Switzerland from joining or cooperating with military and defence alliances unless the country was under attack or an attack was imminent. It also would have allowed sanctions against states at war only when approved by the United Nations Security Council. Supporters argued that expanding security cooperation with NATO had weakened the country's traditional neutral role. The Swiss People's Party has accepted the defeat and said it currently has no plans for further action.

Switzerland has been internationally recognised as neutral since 1815, and neutrality has formed part of its federal constitutional framework since 1848. Current policy still allows the country to cooperate with other states on security and to join sanctions while remaining outside military alliances. The vote, therefore, centred less on whether Switzerland should remain neutral than on how much freedom its government should retain in applying that principle as Europe's security environment changes.

The deeper issue is what this means for Switzerland's future. The country is now firmly on a path toward deeper integration with Western security structures. It is not a NATO member, but it has cooperated with the alliance for decades. This vote removes the last constitutional barrier to making that cooperation permanent. The next logical step is membership. The Swiss may not call it that yet. But the direction is clear.

And that is dangerous. Switzerland has spent two centuries building a reputation as a safe haven, a mediator, a country that stands apart from the conflicts of others. That reputation is now gone. A nation that aligns itself with one side in a conflict cannot credibly offer its good offices to the other. When the next war breaks out, Switzerland will not be seen as a neutral intermediary. It will be seen as a de facto NATO country, - with all its consequences.

Worse still, Switzerland is not prepared to be a target. The country's military has been hollowed out by decades of underfunding. A recent parliamentary report revealed that the defence ministry failed to secure a fixed price for its new fighter jets, a scandal that has been described as a total fiasco. The government has been forced to reduce its order, and the additional costs are running into hundreds of millions of francs. The army itself has warned that Switzerland risks entering a phase of increased vulnerability from 2028 onwards.

This is the country that has just decided to abandon its neutrality. A country that cannot defend its own airspace. A country whose defence ministry is mired in scandal. A country that is now, by its own choice, a potential target in any future conflict.

The Swiss People's Party has accepted defeat. The message from the Swiss people is clear: they are willing to sacrifice their unique status on the altar of European solidarity. They have chosen alignment over independence.

The consequences will not be immediate. Switzerland will still host diplomatic talks. It will still be a place where money is more or less safe. But the mystique is broken. The country is no longer special. It is just another European nation, tied to the fortunes of the European Union, vulnerable to the same threats as everyone else.

The time of Switzerland as a neutral, independent actor on the world stage is over. The country has chosen its side. Now it will have to live with the consequences.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com