The study commission set up by the Federal Department of Defence (DDPS) submitted its report on Thursday with around a hundred recommendations. It presents how Switzerland could create a security policy that is adapted to future threats and dangers.
Marked by the war in Ukraine and destabilized crisis regions, the situation in Europe has deteriorated sharply, notes the commission in its reportIts recommendations concern neutrality, international cooperation, the orientation of security policy instruments and armaments policy.
By a large majority, the commission recommends increasing the army budget to 1% of GDP by 2030, as the bourgeois parties wish. These recommendations will be integrated into the work on the 2025 security policy strategy. The commission also proposes increasing the number of personnel, in particular with the obligation to serve for dual nationals.
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Relaxed neutrality
The commission proposes to apply the policy of neutrality more flexibly and to focus more on its security function, which is no longer guaranteed today. Simply being neutral does not protect Switzerland from an attack, points out Katja Gentinetta, author of the report. It is an “instrument and not an end of the state”.
The revised neutrality must be aligned with the UN Charter and distinguish between aggressor and victim, who has the right to defend himself. In this context, the commission also wants to review the law on war material and its restrictive rules on re-export. Exports should be adapted to geopolitical developments.
International cooperation with NATO and the EU
Furthermore, cooperation with NATO and the EU must be deepened in order to develop a common defence capability. Switzerland is the only country that has waived an obligation to provide mutual assistance. Switzerland cannot “represent a security gap” in Europe, and its geographical location makes cooperation on defence obvious.
For the commission, neutrality is not an obstacle to cooperation with NATO. But only a minority is in favour of joining the organisation. Switzerland needs a comprehensive defence concept, including against disinformation and influence. The army must be reoriented towards its defence capacity and master combined arms combat. Critical infrastructures must be better protected.
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Composition of the commission denounced
The study commission is made up of six parliamentarians representing the main parties. But there are also 14 other stakeholders, including the employers’ organisation Economiesuisse, experts in security and international politics and members of the military.
But this composition itself has been the subject of criticism. The socialist Pierre-Alain Fridez left it before the end of the report, wrote Le Temps last week. According to the Greens, the report “is a farce” and the commission reinforces the line of Federal Councillor Viola Amherd. “A commission arbitrarily chosen, the refusal of dialogue, a unilateral thematic choice”: the elements are combined to make the hair stand on end of the Green party.
A report criticized from left to right
The Federal Department of Defence was not prepared to engage in dialogue with different voices or ideas, Marionna Schlatter (ZH), who represented the Greens on the committee, said in the press release. The Greens believe they were involved constructively, putting forward their own themes and points of view. According to her, “a security policy is only visionary if it also includes the promotion of civil peace, conflict prevention and climate protection”.
The SVP, for its part, criticises a report that aims for a rapprochement with NATO and the EU security policy. This step towards NATO and the EU would signal the end of Swiss neutrality, the party believes. And to recall the salami tactic used by the government in preparing for membership of the European Sky Shield, by participating in EU military exercises or by collaborating with Luxembourg for military exercises.
For the Socialist Party, the conclusions of the report are wrong and contradictory. “Although the probability of a conventional attack against Switzerland is low, it is precisely for this improbable scenario that the army budget must be increased to 1% of GDP by 2030.” For Pierre-Alain Fridez, “it is a big mistake to spend money where it will most certainly never be needed.”
The Group for a Switzerland without an Army (GSsA) is outraged that Viola Amherd refuses a real dialogue to impose her course in terms of security policy, it said in a press release on Thursday. In doing so, she is primarily serving the army’s desire to rearm and the interests of the arms lobby and is trying to legitimize her orientation towards NATO.
ats/itg