Swiss voters reject 'neutrality initiative' by 70% margin

Swiss voters have rejected a constitutional amendment that would have sharply restricted the country's ability to join international sanctions or cooperate with military alliances, dealing a decisive blow to a campaign to enshrine stricter neutrality in law.

The so-called neutrality initiative failed Sunday (local time), with 70.15 percent voting against and 29.85 percent in favor, according to AFP and Reuters. Voter turnout stood at 47.06 percent.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told reporters after the results were announced that the outcome was not a vote against neutrality itself. "Switzerland was neutral yesterday, is neutral today, and will remain so," he said.

The referendum centered on enshrining permanent military neutrality in the constitution and strictly limiting the government's ability to interpret and apply that neutrality at its own discretion. Had the amendment passed, Switzerland would have been barred from imposing unilateral sanctions over armed conflicts or other disputes unless authorized by a UN Security Council resolution, and cooperation with military and defense alliances such as NATO would have been permitted only if Switzerland itself came under direct attack.

Switzerland has been recognized internationally as a neutral state since shortly after the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Its constitution, however, does not specify how the government must implement that neutrality in practice.

Swiss governments have long interpreted neutrality flexibly in line with shifting international conditions — staying outside NATO and the EU while still taking part in limited NATO partnership programs and international peacekeeping missions.

The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which backed the initiative, argued that Switzerland's decision to join EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine had eroded the country's traditionally neutral stance. Supporters campaigned under the slogan "Against war, for neutrality."

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Switzerland has adopted most of the 20 rounds of EU sanctions packages against Russia — a marked departure from its stance during Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, when it declined to join such measures. Critics argued that aligning with the sanctions amounted to taking Ukraine's side and abandoning the principle of neutrality.

The federal government and most political parties strongly opposed the amendment. In a recent television debate, Foreign Minister Cassis said neutrality "has always been applied with a degree of flexibility" and stressed that "neutrality is not indifference."

Following exit polls Sunday, Green Party lawmaker Sibel Arslan said voters had seen through what the SVP was really after. "They want to isolate Switzerland internationally and dodge responsibility even when international law is being trampled," she said.

Pre-vote polling had also pointed to a clear rejection. A survey by public broadcaster SRG and GFS Bern showed 63 percent opposed and 34 percent in favor.

Fabio Wasserfallen, a professor of European politics at the University of Bern, told Reuters that the result showed Swiss voters like neutrality but also approve of the way the current government is implementing it.