Survey: Swiss question the country’s defence capabilities

Over three-quarters of respondents doubt the Swiss authorities are sufficiently prepared for conventional and hybrid threats. Keystone-SDA

Most people in Switzerland feel safe, but many doubt the country’s defence readiness, a survey published on Monday shows.

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More than three-quarters of the people who took part in the survey carried out by the Sotomo research institute, known as the “Opportunity Barometer”, doubt the federal government is sufficiently prepared for conventional and hybrid threats.

Most people would like the army’s budget to be increased to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, according to the think tank Strategiedialog21, a non-partisan Swiss foundation set up in 2011.

In the current context, a rigid interpretation of neutrality is being challenged, it said. More than two-thirds of respondents would like closer security cooperation with neighbouring European states. A majority would also like stronger cooperation with NATO.

Proximity with European values

More than four in five respondents say they identify with the values of western, central and northern Europe, the survey showed. Outside Europe, only Australia exceeds a 50% alignment. Just 44% of respondents feel there is a “fairly large” correspondence with US core values.

The survey concludes that the Swiss population is not in crisis. Instead, it portrays a country assessing its situation with a sense of “lucidity”.

For the sixth edition of the ‘Opportunity Barometer’, 5,249 people in Switzerland were questioned between November 18 and December 15. The results are considered highly representative of the resident population, say Sotomo.

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Adapted from Italian by AI/sb

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