Switzerland Allows Arms Export to Ukraine

One of the two chambers of the Swiss parliament has approved a plan that permits purchasers of Swiss weapons to re-export them to third countries, such as Ukraine, under certain conditions. This development has been reported by SwissInfo.

The decision, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, allows certain countries to re-export Swiss weapons five years after their purchase. However, strict conditions must be met by the parties involved.

Firstly, countries engaged in re-export must share similar values with Switzerland and have comparable export controls. Secondly, if the recipient country is involved in a conflict, it must exercise its right to self-defense in accordance with international law.

Under the amendment, buyer countries of Swiss weapons will still be required to sign a non-re-export declaration, but its duration may be limited to five years. Re-export will only be possible to destination countries that do not violate human rights and do not employ the weapons against civilian populations.

Existing regulations prohibit buyers of Swiss weapons from re-exporting them without obtaining permission from Bern. Traditionally, Swiss neutrality meant selling an equal amount of weapons to all countries or, in rare cases, to none, so as not to antagonize dictators.

Based on these rules and its tradition of neutrality, Switzerland has rejected requests from Germany, Denmark, and Spain over the past year to re-export weapons to Ukraine. The pressure resulting from these decisions, as well as the debates surrounding Switzerland's role following the Russian-Ukrainian war, have led to a wave of proposals in parliament to change the rules on arms exports, including the proposal approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

However, Swiss arms are still far from reaching Kyiv. This decision will now be discussed in the other chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, and any final decision by legislators will also be subject to a possible referendum.

It should be noted that on June 1, the lower house of the Swiss parliament, the National Council, voted against an amendment that would have allowed third countries to re-export Swiss-produced weapons to Ukraine. After the upper house's vote, they will reconsider the amendment.

Since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, several countries have approached Switzerland requesting permission to transfer Swiss weapons from their arsenal to Kyiv. Germany wanted to supply ammunition for Gepard anti-aircraft installations, as well as machine gun ammunition. Denmark sought permission to supply Piranha III armored vehicles to Ukraine. However, Switzerland rejected these requests, which sparked international criticism.