Navigation

Army could be cut by a third

The Swiss Army could be slashed by at least a third over the next ten to 12 years, Defence Minister Ueli Maurer said in an interview published on Sunday.

This content was published on August 16, 2009 minutes

In a break from the Swiss People's Party traditional platform, Maurer, a member of the rightwing party, also said the defence ministry was prepared to send the army abroad on humanitarian missions.

In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Maurer said no reductions would occur for five or six years.

Ranks could be culled from 120,000 soldiers today to 80,000 over the next decade, Maurer said. Reservists would go from 80,000 soldiers today to 40,000.

Heavy weapons divisions would probably bear the brunt of the downsizing. Maurer said a mechanised war with equipment like tanks now seems unlikely in Europe.

Maurer also said the army should reserve the right to revoke a weapon from a soldier who has a criminal background.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

In compliance with the JTI standards

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

Contributions under this article have been turned off. You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

Share this story

Change your password

Do you really want to delete your profile?