Swiss voters weigh referendum to bar EU sanctions without UN backing

Opponents cite Swiss trade with apartheid South Africa as warning

Swiss voters this weekend are deciding whether to constitutionally redefine their country’s more than 200-year tradition of military neutrality, in a referendum forced by traditionalists angry at Switzerland’s 2022 decision to join European Union sanctions against Russia.

Swiss neutrality was not originally a Swiss choice. It was imposed on the country by the major 19th-century European powers — France on one side, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the other — which wanted a buffer zone between them, NPR correspondent Imogen Foulkes reported from Bern. Although the arrangement was not of Switzerland’s making, neutrality allowed the country to avoid the slaughter of two world wars and, in later years, to use its neutral status to justify continuing trade with repressive regimes such as apartheid South Africa that other governments had sanctioned.

That changed in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. After a few days of hesitation, Switzerland — which is not a member of the European Union — joined the EU’s sanctions against Moscow, stopped trade, and froze billions of dollars in Russian assets. The shift was welcomed by many younger Swiss, and Swiss cities had seen days of protests calling for solidarity with Ukraine as the government deliberated its response.

Traditionalists were angry at what they characterized as a weakening of neutrality. They collected the required signatures to force this weekend’s nationwide vote, which would explicitly forbid Switzerland from joining economic sanctions unless they are approved by the UN Security Council — an unlikely prospect given that the body’s five permanent members — the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom — agree on very little. The proposal would also enshrine neutrality in Switzerland’s constitution, block the Swiss from joining military alliances like NATO, and define neutrality as permanent armed defense of Swiss territory only.

The campaign is led by what NPR described as the “grand old man” of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, 85-year-old Christoph Blocher. Blocher has spent decades campaigning to keep Switzerland out of the European Union and even opposed the country’s membership in the United Nations, which Switzerland ultimately joined in 2002.

Blocher told a rally of supporters that the 2022 sanctions alignment has damaged Switzerland’s position. “We’ve hurt our neutrality with these EU sanctions,” he said. “Now Russia thinks we’re part of the war.” Campaign posters across the country sell the same idea, promising “No war” if voters say “yes to Swiss neutrality.”

Opponents counter that Switzerland cannot remain neutral in the face of clear injustice or unprovoked aggression. Fabian Molina, a Social Democrats member of parliament, said Switzerland’s refusal to join sanctions against Pretoria prolonged white minority rule. “We therefore supported directly the racist regime and prolonged apartheid in South Africa,” Molina said.

Not joining EU sanctions now, he argued, “would put us in a similar situation now with Russia. And this is morally wrong.” Molina also questioned Blocher’s motivations, noting that the 85-year-old is a billionaire whose businesses traded with South Africa during apartheid and with Russia until 2022. “With no sanctions, it’s easier to trade with dirty regimes,” Molina said.

Opinion polls suggest Swiss voters are doubtful that Blocher’s proposals for stricter neutrality will keep them safe. Warfare is changing: NPR reported that drones believed to be Russian were seen hovering over sensitive Swiss military sites this year. Switzerland has more nuclear bunkers than any country in the world, and the traditional armed neutrality — under which every family has a nuclear bunker and every man serves in Switzerland’s militia army — may not protect against the new threats.

The Swiss government also wants voters to reject the neutrality initiative. Ministers know the world is changing fast, with old friends becoming unreliable. The Patriot missiles and F-35 fighter jets Switzerland planned to buy from the United States are either indefinitely delayed, much more expensive, or both. New alliances and new defense strategies will have to be found urgently, and redefining neutrality on such strict lines could limit Switzerland’s room for maneuver.