Swiss Senate wants additional billions for the army
The Senate would like to use the money to strengthen ground-based air defense and enable the purchase of corresponding systems a year earlier than planned.
Keystone / Ennio Leanza
The Senate wants to increase the budget for the armed forces by CHF4 billion to CHF29.8 billion ($4.5 billion to $33.3 billion) between 2025 and 2028. It wants to spend CHF60 million more on the armaments program than the Federal Council.
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Ständerat will zusätzliche Milliarden für die Armee
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The increase in the payment framework is intended to ensure that the army budget reaches the target value of 1% of gross domestic product by 2030. On Monday, the Senate agreed with its security policy committee by 27 votes to 17 with one abstention.
The increase in the armaments program was also based on a proposal by the preliminary consultation committee. The Senate approved it by 31 votes to 14 with no abstentions. It would like to use the money to strengthen ground-based air defense and enable the purchase of corresponding systems a year earlier than planned.
On both points, the conservatives prevailed against the Senate’s left wing. They were of the opinion that, in view of the security situation in Europe, Switzerland needed to improve its defense capabilities quickly. Only a few centrist representatives and Green Liberal Party member of the Senate Tiana Angelina Moser voted with the Social Democratic Party and the Greens.
Adapted from German by DeepL/amva
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