Swiss senators back overhaul of weapons exports rules

The Swiss War Materiels Act forbids the sale of weapons to nations involved in conflict. © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

One of the two parliamentary chambers has approved a plan to allow buyers of Swiss weapons to re-export them to third countries – like Ukraine – under certain conditions.

The initiative passed by the Senate on Wednesday would allow certain countries to re-export Swiss-made weapons after a period of five years following purchase.

Strict conditions would still have to be met: for one, the countries doing the re-exporting would have to share “similar values” to Switzerland and have similar export controls in place; while the country receiving the weapons, if involved in a conflict, would have to be making use of its right to self-defence under international law – as confirmed by a two-thirds majority vote at the UN General Assembly.

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Current rules forbid the buyers of Swiss arms to re-export them without receiving an authorisation by Bern.

Based on these rules, and its tradition of neutrality, Switzerland has turned down requests over the past year from Germany, Denmark and Spain to re-export weapons to Kyiv.

The resulting pressure, as well as debates about defining Switzerland’s role in the Russia-Ukraine war, have led to a flurry of ideas in parliament on re-jigging weapons exports rules – including the one passed today in the Senate.

However, Swiss arms are still a long way from Kyiv: the idea will now go for debate to the other parliamentary chamber, the House of Representatives, while any final decision by lawmakers would also be subject to a potential popular referendum.