On Wednesday, the Federal Council instructed the Federal Department of Defence to present a project to enable it to temporarily increase the maximum strength of the army as prescribed in the law.
The Swiss army currently has 147,000 soldiers in service. But under Swiss law, the regular workforce is set at 100,000, up to a maximum of 140,000. Thanks to a transitional provision, these numbers could be exceeded until the end of 2022.
The government believes it is “inappropriate” to reduce the current size of the army given the geopolitical situation. “It is essential to have a sufficiently large number of staff to have the necessary replacements to ensure the capacity to last, particularly in the event of a prolonged engagement,” it said in a statement.
The Group for a Switzerland without an army has criticised the fact that a situation which is contrary to the law has existed for years.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Most Read Swiss Abroad
More
The Böögg, Switzerland’s exploding psychic snowman
In Switzerland more people are being referred to electrical therapies or psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Are there similar approaches where you live?
SWISS flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended until May 11
This content was published on
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has cancelled all flights to and from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv until May 11 after a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels landed near the airport.
Ministers discuss Swiss-EU deal with Italy and Hungary
This content was published on
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis held diplomatic talks on Monday with their respective counterparts from Italy and Hungary.
UBS will pay $511 million to end Credit Suisse US tax probe
This content was published on
UBS Group AG agreed to pay $511 million ($420 million) to settle a US investigation into how Credit Suisse Group, the Swiss bank it bought, helped rich Americans evade taxes.
This content was published on
Primary school children in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden will not be allowed to use mobile phones and other electronic devices..
This content was published on
Swiss military spending should increase from CHF5.6 billion a year to around CHF7 billion, according to a parliamentary chamber.
Swiss defence minister repeats calls for stronger army
This content was published on
The Swiss armed forces need to be boosted and better prepared, argues Defence Minister Viola Amherd. Nato membership however is “not an option”.
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.