Swiss government rejects initiative that champions anti-nuclear weapons treaty

Federal Council continues to reject accession to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Keystone-SDA

The Swiss government has rejected a popular initiative that aims to force Switzerland to sign up to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

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The Federal Council says Swiss accession to the treaty would be purely symbolic that could not contribute to the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. It therefore rejected the initiative without offering a counter-proposal.

+ ‘It’s never been more urgent to eliminate nuclear weapons’

The government’s decision comes as little surprise. It last rejected the signing of the treaty in March 2024 against the wishes of a parliamentary mandate.

The reason given then and now was that the treaty would have little impact as most Western and European countries would not recognise it. It would be more effective for Switzerland to work towards a world without nuclear weapons within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Parliament is expected to consider the initiative next year. The petition for a referendum was submitted by an alliance of left leaning political parties and other organisations.

Translated from German by AI/mga

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