Swiss Senate wants additional billions for the army
The Senate would like to use the money to strengthen ground-based air defense and enable the purchase of corresponding systems a year earlier than planned.
Keystone / Ennio Leanza
The Senate wants to increase the budget for the armed forces by CHF4 billion to CHF29.8 billion ($4.5 billion to $33.3 billion) between 2025 and 2028. It wants to spend CHF60 million more on the armaments program than the Federal Council.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Ständerat will zusätzliche Milliarden für die Armee
Original
The increase in the payment framework is intended to ensure that the army budget reaches the target value of 1% of gross domestic product by 2030. On Monday, the Senate agreed with its security policy committee by 27 votes to 17 with one abstention.
The increase in the armaments program was also based on a proposal by the preliminary consultation committee. The Senate approved it by 31 votes to 14 with no abstentions. It would like to use the money to strengthen ground-based air defense and enable the purchase of corresponding systems a year earlier than planned.
On both points, the conservatives prevailed against the Senate’s left wing. They were of the opinion that, in view of the security situation in Europe, Switzerland needed to improve its defense capabilities quickly. Only a few centrist representatives and Green Liberal Party member of the Senate Tiana Angelina Moser voted with the Social Democratic Party and the Greens.
Adapted from German by DeepL/amva
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.
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.
Popular Stories
More
Aging society
Is Switzerland repeating England’s housing mistakes?
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Zurich arbitration authority rules in favour of tenants of ‘Sugus Houses’
This content was published on
A conciliation authority says the terminations of 105 flat leases in the so-called "Sugus Houses" in the centre of Zurich were abusive. The tenants therefore do not have to move out - at least for the time being.
This content was published on
Visitors to Switzerland spent CHF19.6 billion ($23.9 billion) last year, a 2.2% rise compared to the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Monday.
This content was published on
Despite the current tense economic situation, Swiss consumer sentiment remains positive. The Swiss spent more money in May than the previous year, particularly on restaurant visits and leisure activities, as shown by the latest figures released by PostFinance.
This content was published on
A bear killed four sheep in the Lower Engadine region near Scuol, canton Graubünden, last week. This was the first bear attack on local livestock in four years.
This content was published on
Experts believe that economic development in Switzerland will be weaker in 2026 than the forecasts made three months ago. They have also lowered their predictions for the current year.
This content was published on
Fewer people in Switzerland have a religious affiliation and the proportion who practice their religion regularly is steadily declining, a survey finds.
Study: trees have major cooling effect even in extreme heat
This content was published on
Plane trees in cities have an important cooling effect even in extreme heat, according to a new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).
EPFL launches digitised version of Battle of Murten panorama
This content was published on
To mark the anniversary of the Battle of Murten on 22 June 1476, the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has launched a website that offers the public an immersive experience of the huge panorama painting of the historic battle.
77th Swiss Gymnastics Festival praised for ‘positive energy’
This content was published on
The 77th Federal Gymnastics Festival drew to a close on Sunday in Lausanne, after eleven days of popular celebration and sporting performances.
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.