No Swiss weapons for Ukraine

On Tuesday, the Canton Council, the advanced home of the Swiss Parliament, rejected an amendment to the bill that would let re-export of weapons produced in the country, for example, to Ukraine.

The rules presently in force in Switzerland do not let the export of ammunition and arms to countries which are parties to armed conflicts. On the another hand, the re-export of Swiss weapons and ammunition, by countries which have acquired them before, may only be carried out with the consent of the Swiss Government.

The Canton Council discussed an amendment on Tuesday where this request would not should be respected erstwhile selling arms to countries with arms export control systems. However, amendments to the "Federal Act on the Basis and Conditions of Military and method Cooperation with abroad Countries" were rejected.

Opponents of arms export liberalisation accused the author of the amendment -Thierry Burkart (President of the Liberal Party, FDP) of acting as a weapon maker lobbyist. Burkart indirectly acknowledged that his amendments were intended to hold the position of the Swiss arms company MIC, as he said "many countries simply don't want to buy Swiss weapons and ammunition anymore, especially if they gotta go to Bern whenever they want to re-export to another countries."

In fresh months, Switzerland has rejected applications from Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic, which wanted to re-export previously purchased from Swiss companies, including Ukraine.

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