Swiss Parliament again fails to approve arms re-export to Ukraine
The lower house of the Swiss parliament rejected a proposal by the upper house to change the rules for re-exporting weapons to countries involved in military conflicts.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to the EP.
It is noted that the initiative of the Council of Cantons (upper house - Ed.) was supported by only 48 Swiss deputies of the lower house of parliament (National Council - Ed.), while 135 deputies, mostly from the Left and the far-right Swiss People's Party, opposed it.
An amendment to the law on the re-export of military equipment was supported by the Swiss Council of Cantons in June.
The amendment would allow the re-export of weapons if a country participating in a conflict exercises the right of self-defence, and would have retroactive effect (i.e., it would be considered legal even if it was carried out before the law came into force).
It was also envisaged that the re-export of Swiss weapons from the country that purchased them would be allowed five years after the purchase - but only to those states that "share Switzerland's values and have a compatible export control regime".
In parallel, the Swiss parliament is developing another bill to amend the law on arms re-export. It would allow re-exports if the UN Security Council or two-thirds of the General Assembly confirmed that the state receiving the weapons had violated international law.
The provision banning the re-export of weapons within five years of purchase remains in place. The text of the bill is not yet ready, so it is not known when the Swiss parliament will consider it.
As a reminder, on 8 March 2023, the Swiss parliament did not approve the possibility of re-exporting ammunition to Ukraine.
