Swiss lawmakers vote to ease weapons exports

Parliament wants to make it easier to export and re-export weapons Keystone-SDA

Both Swiss parliamentary chambers have approved the easing of war materiel exports and re-exports.

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The House of Representatives has approved, by 120 votes to 63, the relaxations earlier decided by the Senate.

The proposal follows a request from parliament, which currently prohibits all sales if a country is involved in a conflict or seriously violates human rights. The goverment has proposed a reform that would allow it to deviate from the authorisation criteria in exceptional cases for a limited period.

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Parliament has supported the derogation proposed by the government, as well as the relaxations decided by Senators, in view of the current geopolitical situation in Europe and around the world.

Economic Minister Guy Parmelin assured lawmakers that the amendments did not call into question the law of neutrality. In addition, interests will be weighed up before each authorisation.

The House of Representatives made a number of changes to the draft. The dossier will now go back to the Senate.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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