Switzerland should consider a more flexible approach to its historical military neutrality and seek to strengthen its defense cooperation with NATO and the European Union, recommends a committee created by the Swiss Ministry of Defense in a report published Thursday, as reported by AFP via Agerpres.
This committee, tasked in July 2023 with defining a security policy adapted to current threats, emphasizes that the security situation in Europe has deteriorated significantly, especially due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the committee, this war opens the door to a broader conflict with the North Atlantic Alliance, and Switzerland’s neutrality does not guarantee that the country will not be attacked.
The report contains over 100 recommendations, mainly regarding neutrality, international cooperation, arms policy, and the direction of the security strategy of the Swiss Confederation.
Switzerland cannot be a security breach in Europe
„Switzerland cannot be a security breach in Europe. Its geographical position in the middle of the EU makes the need for defense cooperation evident,” the report states.
„Its neutrality does not prevent cooperation with NATO in terms of security policy,” emphasizes the committee, which believes that „neutrality policy needs to be revised, more focused on its security function and applied in a more flexible manner.”
Cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance and the EU should be „deepened further” towards a „common defense capability,” the committee asserts.
„Like all other European countries,” Switzerland „is hardly immune to hybrid threats,” the committee considers.
According to the report, hybrid warfare is even the „main threat” to the country, which is an „interesting target” due to its important infrastructures in the energy and international payment sectors, „also crucial for Europe.”
As a result, „access to EU and NATO cooperation projects should be ensured,” concludes the committee in its report.
A landlocked country, Switzerland is not a member of NATO or the European Union, while neighboring countries – Germany, Italy, and France are members of the North Atlantic Alliance and the EU bloc, and Austria is also part of the EU.
