Alain Berset, the Swiss president, has just said that the Swiss position is understood. Then Berset came from the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he apparently explained the Swiss situation to many again: As a neutral country, Switzerland must not favor either side in an armed conflict, the Hague Agreement of 1907 requires this.
Translated to the specific situation, this means that he cannot deliver weapons to Ukraine itself, nor allow goods that were previously exported to be passed on to Ukraine – such as the approximately 12,000 35mm rounds for the Cheetah tank that Germany has launched decades ago. ago received in Switzerland and now would like to pass it on to Kyiv. As Berne, for reasons of neutrality, requires a so-called non-reexport declaration for arms exports, Germany needs to ask Switzerland for permission – but Switzerland has already said no on several occasions. Not only the Hague Agreement, but also the recently strengthened War Materials Act prohibit the state from granting such permission to Berlin. Because Ukraine is a war party.
Otherwise, Germany would have to look for other arms purchase partners.
Is this position really understood? It looked different in Davos. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Swiss television that it was not a question of neutrality but “the right of self-defence, enshrined in the UN Charter”. In other words: even neutral states must not shirk their responsibilities here. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck also said it would be “fair and useful” if Switzerland provided ammunition. And now the German ambassador to Switzerland told French-speaking Swiss television RTS: Switzerland must step forward to allow other countries to support Ukraine. Otherwise, Germany would have to look for other arms-buying partners.
So the pressure on Switzerland remains high – probably also because it’s not just about the 12,000 rounds in the German warehouses, but also other ammunition reserves that Switzerland has already supplied. According to experts, there are tens of thousands of shots around the world. They are said to be stored in Qatar and Brazil, among other places. However, President Lula has just ruled out that this last ammunition could go to Ukraine.
Rheinmetall is massively expanding its ammunition production
Germany now wants to remedy the situation on its own. Armaments group Rheinmetall, for example, is currently massively expanding its ammunition production, for example in Unterlüß in the Celle district: Rheinmetall wants to start pre-production here in the next few days with new medium caliber ammunition, and regular deliveries should be done from mid-July. Specifically, it should then go to a first delivery of cheetah ammunition – 300,000 rounds for the Ukrainian military. Rheinmetall is also buying Spanish ammunition manufacturer Expal Systems, estimated value: 1.2 billion euros. To handle the acquisition, the company raised just one billion euros on the market this Tuesday. A deal that shows: The Düsseldorf-based armaments group expects a sharp increase in demand for ammunition in the future. One reacts to the “market situation”, says a source. After all, there is a need that did not exist before.
And Switzerland? At least I didn’t have to veto him this time. A transfer of know-how from the Confederation to other countries is, in principle, also subject to the War Material Law. However, a transfer to Germany does not require an authorization according to the statutory ordinance. Furthermore, RWM Schweiz AG, manufacturer of Gepard bullets, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rheinmetall.
There are several ideas on how to solve the problem
But even if new ammunition for cheetahs could be delivered to Ukraine in July: Switzerland remains the key to currently available ammunition supplies. That explains why the tone towards Bern is still so combative – and why the Swiss parliament is working feverishly to find a solution to the problem.
One idea comes from the liberal FDP: they want to relax the War Goods Act so that “countries with the same values and a comparable export control regime” no longer need to file a non-reexport declaration. The Social Democrats (SP) have also launched an initiative: if a country is attacked and the UN considers this attack to be contrary to international law, the Swiss government must be authorized to approve the re-export of war material upon request.
The third initiative comes from the Mitte party and is called “Lex Ukraine”. Here, too, it is a question of making the War Material Act more flexible, but it would be limited in time and space. Non-reexport declarations must therefore become invalid if it is certain that war material is going to Ukraine in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian war. The change must be explained urgently, it could come into effect as early as next June – extremely fast by Swiss standards – and should only take effect until the end of 2025.
This initiative is the only one that can reduce the time until ammunition produced in Germany can be delivered – but only if a majority in parliament is behind it. As is known, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is the largest group there. And for them, Switzerland has already betrayed its neutrality by adopting sanctions against Russia.