Federal Council adopts report on neutrality
At its meeting on Oct. 26, 2022, the Federal Council adopted the Neutrality Report, determining that current neutrality practice provides sufficient leeway to use neutrality as an instrument of Swiss foreign and security policy in the contemporary international context.
The Federal Council’s report responds to Postulate 22.3385 put forward by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Council of States calling for ‘Clarity and guidance on neutrality policy’. The report is based on the approach agreed by the Federal Council in its discussions on neutrality on 31 August and 7 September 2022, and should also be viewed in relation to the complementary report to the 2021 Security Policy Report.
The last time the Federal Council addressed the topic of neutrality in detail was in the context of the 1993 White Paper on Neutrality. The present report covering neutrality and its relationship to foreign policy shows how the practice of neutrality has evolved over the past 30 years, and reviews the Federal Council’s decisions since the start of the war in Ukraine. The current practice allows the Federal Council sufficient leeway to make effective decisions on neutrality in individual cases while taking the global situation into account.
The Federal Council has therefore concluded that it will continue to adhere to the practice of neutrality established in the 1993 White Paper on Neutrality. The Federal Council wants to retain neutrality as an instrument of Swiss foreign and security policy. In doing so, it aims to safeguard security, independence and prosperity while working for a peaceful international order based on international law, human rights and democracy.
To ensure that Swiss neutrality is understood and recognised in the current international context, both in Europe and around the world, it is important for Swiss diplomacy to demonstrate the benefits of neutrality and its contribution to the international order.
The Federal Council will continue to analyse the impact of the war in Ukraine on international relations and will review the situation as part of its foreign policy strategy, taking Switzerland’s neutrality into account.
Neutrality in Brief
Neutrality is an integral part of Switzerland and an ingrained value in the consciousness of its citizens.
Its origins date back to the renunciation of expansionist policy following the bloody defeat of the Helvetic army at the Battle of Marignano in 1515.
After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which sanctioned the independence of the Helvetic Confederation from the Holy Roman Empire, the first explicit statement of neutrality at the international level came with the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which recognized that “the neutrality and inviolability of Switzerland and its independence from all foreign influence are in the interest of all Europe.“
With the Treaty of Paris, the European powers that had defeated Napoleon granted perpetual neutrality through an agreement in which the Confederation pledged not to take part in armed conflicts in exchange for the inviolability of its territory.
Perpetual neutrality is a principle of Swiss foreign policy that is a key element in maintaining peace and security within and outside Europe and ensures Switzerland’s independence and the inviolability of its territory. Under the law of neutrality, Switzerland cannot participate in wars between other states.
Neutrality in the Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution provides for the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly to oversee the maintenance of neutrality. According to the intention of the framers of the Constitution, neutrality is not among the objectives of the federal government or among the principles of foreign policy. It represents a means in the service of a cause.
The right of neutrality
The law of neutrality, which is essentially based on the Hague Conventions of October 18, 1907 and customary international law, defines the rights and obligations of a neutral state. The most important right is that of the inviolability of the neutral state’s territory. The main obligations, on the other hand, are as follows:
- to refrain from participating in war
- to guarantee its own defense
- to ensure the equal treatment of belligerents in the export of war material
- to refrain from supplying mercenaries to belligerents
- refrain from making its territory available to belligerents
The law of neutrality applies to international conflicts and not to internal conflicts, which account for most current conflicts. A military operation decided by the United Nations (UN) Security Council does not fall within the scope of an international conflict under the law of neutrality, as the Security Council acts under a mandate from the international community to restore international peace and security. Neutrality law does not prevent neutral states from supporting this type of operation.
The policy of neutrality
The policy of neutrality is not governed by rules of law. It brings together the set of measures that a neutral state takes on its own motion to ensure the predictability and credibility of its neutrality in the legal sense. The implementation of neutrality policy depends on an analysis of the international context at the time.
Switzerland gives its neutrality a humanitarian and peaceful orientation, in keeping with its tradition of good offices and humanitarian aid. It organizes its neutrality with the needs of international solidarity in mind, putting it at the service of maintaining peace and prosperity.