After a long debate Monday, the Council of the cantons (small chamber of the Swiss Federal Assembly) rejected the request of the representative of the liberals, Thierry Burkart, to authorize the re-export of Swiss weapons to Ukraine. In particular, Burkart has proposed lifting the ban on re-exporting military equipment to countries that adhere to Swiss values and have an export control regime comparable to that of Switzerland.
He cited the example of countries such as Germany, Spain and Denmark, which have already asked Switzerland for permission to re-export, but received a negative response. In turn, Switzerland’s Western partners are annoyed by this position.
A majority of members of the Council of Cantons’ Security Policy Commission voted against Burkart’s proposal, stressing the need to make the necessary changes to the legislation through a parliamentary initiative. In addition, some members of the Council of States expressed their opposition in principle to the lifting of the re-export ban, as they saw it as a threat to Switzerland’s reputation as a neutral intermediate state.
As a result, 23 parliamentarians voted against Burkart’s motion, 18 voted in favor of this initiative and two others abstained.
