Global military expenditure hit record levels last year, with governments shelling out nearly $2 trillion (CHF1.8 trillion). Switzerland was the 14th biggest exporter of weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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Suíça contribui com o ‘boom’ no comércio global de armamentos
The United States accounted for 39% of all global military spending. The US, China, India, Russia and Britain together were responsible for 62% of the total expenditure internationally, which increased 2.6% last year from 2019.
Swiss defence expenditure was nearly CHF6 billion in 2019, according to the latest official figures. This represented 2.5% of the country’s total economic output (gross domestic product – GDP).
On average, countries around the world spent 2.4% of their GDP on weaponry last year, up from 2.2% in 2019, according to SIPRI.
Efforts to curb the war materiel industry in Switzerland have so far failed to produce results at the ballot box. Last November, voters gunned down a popular initiative to ban the Swiss National Bank, pension funds and foundations, from holding shares or lending money to global companies which generate more than 5% of their annual sales from war materiel.
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How do Swiss arms end up in conflict zones?
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How have arms found their way from neutral Switzerland, a country that likes to underline its humanitarian tradition, to conflict countries?
Swiss government wants to keep control of weapons exports
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A people’s initiative collected enough signatures in 2019 to force a nationwide vote on the issue. It proposes enshrining rules for war materiel exports in the constitution, which would take this responsibility away from the government. On Friday the government issued a counterproposal that would give parliament the power to adjust the rules for selling…
Initiative calls for end to ‘warmongering with our money’
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A total of 104,902 had been confirmed as valid, said the pacifist Group for a Switzerland Without an Army, the Young Green Party and the Association for a Ban on Arms Dealing. People’s initiatives must be signed by at least 100,000 citizens within an 18-month period in order to be considered for a vote at…
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The launching of the campaign kicked off with one of the group’s members, 86-year-old Louise Schneider, being picked up by police for spraying “Geld für Waffen tötet” (money for weapons kills) on the Swiss National Bank (SNB). The bank is currently undergoing renovations, so the graffiti was sprayed on a wooden protective wall. The text…
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