Swiss parliament cuts foreign aid budget

Parliamentarians agreed to cut the budget for bilateral development projects by CHF147.7 million and those of multilateral organisations by CHF52.3 million. Keystone-SDA

Switzerland will have less money available for international cooperation programmes next year. The House of Representatives on Wednesday cut the foreign aid budget by CHF250 million ($282 million) in favour of the army.

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On Wednesday, the House of Representatives resumed discussions on Switzerland’s 2025 budget. Left-wing parties and the centrist Liberal Green Party were unable to oppose international aid cuts worth CHF250 million.

Parliamentarians agreed to cut the budgets for bilateral development projects by CHF147.7 million and those of multilateral organisations by CHF52.3 million. They also agreed a CHF50 million cut for economic cooperation programmes at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Setting new priorities

Changing geopolitical situations require new priorities, said Pius Kaufmann of The Centre Party. Speaking on behalf of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party parliamentary group, Andreas Gafner said the security of Swiss population must come first. It was not about cuts, but about less growth in expenditure, he added.

The cuts were acceptable, according to Alex Farinelli of the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party. Funding for international development aid had increased, more than all other federal expenditure. Conversely, spending on national defence had been reduced, not least in favour of international cooperation.

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The Social Democrats, Greens, Liberal Greens and Protestant Party failed to prevent the cuts. These were made at the expense of individual country programmes and multinational cooperation, lamented Corina Gredig of the Liberal Greens, warning of reputational damage.

‘Extremely dangerous’ security policy

In terms of security policy, the cuts are extremely dangerous,” warned Social Democrat Cédric Wermuth. He described them as a “devastating signal to the outside world”. With the majority proposals, Beijing and Moscow could expand their influence in the Global South, he declared.

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Gerhard Andrey of the Green Party underlined the importance of maintaining international relations and the credibility of neutral Switzerland. This had made the Ukraine summit at the Bürgenstock possible, he pointed out. “Development policy and security policy should not be played off against each other,” added Marc Jost of the Protestant Party.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter rejected any increases in international cooperation budgets. At the same time, she said certain cooperation projects could not be carried out with the short-term cuts requested by parliament.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

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