Swiss Army’s Push to Keep Soldiers Is Going to the Ballot Box

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s struggle to keep its military staffed at a time of global geopolitical tensions is about to play out with a national vote on the terms of conscription.

The referendum on June 14 will ask citizens to back a measure that makes it more onerous for soldiers to switch over for the alternative of civilian service instead. Those wanting to would then need to complete at least 150 days of duty, regardless of time already served in the military.

While the issue has been overshadowed by another controversial question on the same ballot paper over a possible population cap of 10 million, the conscription bill is proving highly contentious too.

It has prompted soul-searching on the role of the army within Switzerland’s psyche, as well as showcasing the challenge faced within Europe of getting people to do their bit for national defense even in a country with a longstanding tradition of military service.

Against that backdrop, the vote centers on the trade offs for young men juggling responsibilities as citizens alongside the need to earn a living or finish studies. Upon reaching adulthood, they face about 245 days of military duty spread out over several years, with the longer option of civilian service for those who want it.

“I can understand the army’s perspective, that they don’t want people to just leave after expensive training,” said Sebastian Fischer, a 24-year-old architecture student from Biel. Even so, “I don’t think it’s good that switching is being made more difficult,” he added, observing that “army just didn’t work out for me alongside university.”

Fischer, who started out as a combat medic, made the change himself because of repeated timetable clashes between military training and college assignments. He will soon pause studies to complete civilian service in one go, working on an environmental project.

Young men deemed fit for the military can opt to serve 1 1/2 as many days in civil functions, mainly in social or environmental areas. The choice was introduced in 1996, amid the wind-down of Europe’s defenses after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Civilian service, as measured by days taken doing so, more than tripled after 2009, following the abolition of the so-called examination of conscience, which tested recruits claiming ethical objections to the military.

Then last fall, concern at the numbers of personnel switching over prompted lawmakers in Bern to approve a bill on the new measure. But left-leaning groups, worried about the impact on society of cutting back recruits for civilian service, collected enough signatures to force a national vote.

“I have the utmost respect for people who dedicate their skills and time to serving society,” Lieutenant General Benedikt Roos, chief of Switzerland’s armed forces since Jan. 1, said in an interview. “What pains us as the military is when individuals leave after completing their training, because we have already invested significant resources in their training.”

Whether he can sway voters is still an open question. The latest poll by Tamedia points to a close outcome, with each side backed by 48% of respondents. A similar one from SRG found support slightly ahead, but still within the margin of error.

Attempts to beef up armies are under way across Europe, albeit unevenly. Amid concern at US disengagement and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nordic countries in particular have expanded or reinstated conscription. Others such as Germany have debated it or taken baby steps without issuing call-up papers.

Switzerland stands out as one of the few countries in Western Europe to have consistently stuck with conscription. It has long been seen as a pillar of citizenship and a key aspect of neutrality, with the country’s armed readiness credited as a deterrent that prevented a German invasion during World War II. A proposal in 1989 to abolish the army in its entirety and another one in 2013 to at least do away with the draft both didn’t stand a chance at the ballot.

Where the Swiss have drawn a line is on the question of women being called up. A vote last year on whether to force them to perform even civilian service was soundly rejected. By contrast, Denmark has expanded its own military conscription policy to include them.

Even so, Switzerland has a large cohort of active military personnel considering its size. The total was 146,700 last year, similar to the UK after subtracting that country’s navy and marines, which the landlocked Swiss don’t have. The nation is also ramping up military spending, albeit to levels lower than within the neighboring NATO alliance.

The swelling ranks of men opting out of the army meanwhile have become a source of labor for areas beset by shortages such as nursing homes, hospitals or schools. It’s the need for people there that the proponents of the vote highlight.

“If the number of people performing civilian service drops, we as a society will have a problem,” said Priska Seiler Graf, a lawmaker with the Social Democratic Party and co-president of Civiva, the association that called the plebiscite. “Ultimately, the resilience of society is also a matter of national security.”

But army chief Roos, speaking on the sidelines of the Swiss Economic Forum in Interlaken, warned of complacency among citizens.

“There are politicians in Switzerland who are deeply committed to the issue and aware of the changing security situation,” he said. “Whether this is equally true of the general population is another matter. There is certainly room for improvement.”

The choice facing Swiss voters will ultimately shape the futures of a whole new generation of recruits. But Florian Horber, a 27-year-old economics student from Zug, who also switched to civilian duties after finding military service boring and overly rigid, is unimpressed.

He argues that, even if the geopolitical backdrop has transformed, the real question facing Switzerland is how to make more young men actually want to stay on as soldiers, rather than debating their options.

“It’s possible that the security situation in Europe has changed,” he said. “But I think we should first focus on making the military more appealing. That’s where there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

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