Government wants to boost ties with NATO

Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd, alongside army chief Thomas Suessli, told a press conference that Switzerland also needs to speed up modernization of its army. © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Switzerland must strengthen its military cooperation with NATO in view of the war in Ukraine, while respecting its neutrality, according to a government report published on Wednesday.

“Switzerland must be able to defend itself as much as possible,” Defence Minister Viola Amherd told a press conference in Bern. She said NATO membership, which would mean the end of neutrality, is not an option for Switzerland, but it must also take the new situation into account. 

Russia has destroyed the foundations of a rule-based order of peace in Europe through its military attack on Ukraine, the government said. European armies are reorienting themselves towards deterrence and defence against military attack, and towards conventional warfare. A new dynamic of cooperation between European states is underway, it concludes.

Switzerland must take this into account to strengthen its own defence capability, according to the government. In this spirit, the supplementary report to its Security Policy Report 2021 presents the possibilities of developing cooperation with NATO and the EU. 

This includes “increased participation in exercises, expansion of military cooperation capacity, intensification of the partnership status with NATO and participation of the army in EU formations for rescue or evacuation operations”.

In parallel with cooperation, the modernization of the Swiss army must be accelerated, the report stresses. The Federal Department of Defence points to critical shortcomings in the area of anti-tank defence and the ability to sustain a conflict over the long term, especially with regard to ammunition stocks, which it wants to boost.