Parliament says it's OK to send arms to Ukraine

Thursday, 26 January 2023 06:30

A parliamentary committee is recommending allowing Swiss arms to be re-exported to another country, such as Ukraine.

Under current rules – any country which buys Swiss weapons can’t resell or donate them to a third country unless Bern allows them to.

Permission has already been denied to Germany and Spain.

But the House of Representatives Security Policy Committee says Switzerland needs to make a contribution to European security.

The government is under increasing international pressure to change the rules.

The committee says allowing the re-export would not violate neutrality since the weapons would be sent from another country.

More from Bitesize News

Geneva could foot the G7 bill

Geneva fears it will be left with the security bill from a G7 summit just across the border in Évian, according to 24 heures.
US NGO discovers Swiss child abuse cases

Switzerland relies too heavily on an American NGO to detect child sexual abuse online, raising questions about the country's ability to protect children on its own.
French singer banned by Paleo

The Paléo Festival in Nyon says it will no longer invite French singer Patrick Bruel, after a former volunteer accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
Cars going uninspected

The cantons are struggling to keep up with mandatory vehicle inspections, leaving more than 550,000 checks overdue nationwide.
War may lead to rent rises

Rents may rise again, says the bank Raiffeisen.
Not a heatwave, yet

Summer has arrived, with temperatures climbing past 30 over the long weekend. Basel reached 31 and Sion hit 32.4, but MeteoSwiss, says this does not yet count as an official heatwave.