Swiss army chief’s actions irritate politicians from left to right

Thomas Süssli will probably have to answer questions at the next meeting of the Security Policy Committee © Keystone / Urs Flueeler

The Swiss army has to save money and is cancelling several events with a public audience. This is causing a political stir.

The army wanted to show its best side in Emmen in Lucerne, in Bière in Vaud and on the Axalp in the Bernese Oberland. However, the three major events that were planned for this year and next have been cancelled owing to cost-cutting measures.

The head of the army, Thomas Süssli, explained to the Tagesschau programmeExternal link on Swiss public television, SRF, on Sunday that, among other things, operating costs had risen. According to Süssli, it was only last Wednesday that the decision to cancel the major events was made.

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This raises questions. Politicians involved in security criticise the fact that they were not informed about this important decision.

Priska Seiler Graf from the left-wing Social Democratic Party and president of the House of Representative’s Security Policy Committee, says: “I am very irritated and so are my colleagues on the Security Policy Committee. We had a meeting with Mr Süssli on Monday. He didn’t say anything about the cancellations of these major events.”

From left to right, the way in which the head of the army has communicated – or not – is causing a lack of understanding. Mauro Tuena from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party generally criticised the fact that too little information had been provided about the planned events.

“We had no information at all about these major events, what they cost and what sponsors might contribute. That’s remarkable, especially because we’ve only just had a committee meeting and something could have been said.” According to Tuena, it is the commission or parliament that ultimately provides the funds.

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There was also criticism on X (formerly Twitter). Andrea Gmür-Schönenberger from the Centre Party, president of the Security Policy Committee of the Senate, found out about the decision via social media.

“For me, it’s clearly a cry for help from the army. The army has too few resources at its disposal. It therefore has to start making savings somewhere. I find it extremely regrettable that events like this are to be cancelled,” Gmür-Schönenberger said.

What’s more, Tagesschau knows from several independent sources that the head of the Swiss Air Force, Peter Merz, only found out about the cancellation of the planned major events practically at the same time as the media release.

The head of the armed forces, Thomas Süssli, does not wish to comment on camera on the criticism voiced to SRF. However, he did say in writing: “The army leadership recognised this on Wednesday and decided accordingly. The project managers were informed before the media release was published.”

Questions remain unanswered, but one thing is clear: the decision to cancel at short notice was made by the army leadership itself. Süssli will now probably have to answer questions at the next meeting of the Security Policy Committee.

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