The Swiss parliament has rejected a plan to help Ukraine worth more than €5 billion

The parliament of Switzerland rejected the governmentʼs plan to provide Ukraine with long-term aid in the amount of €5 billion.

RTS writes about it.

The plan was presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis. He predicted the allocation of such money to Ukraine over the next 5-10 years.

105 MPs, mostly representatives of right-wing parties, voted against this plan. 86 MPs supported it.

The funds were planned to be used for humanitarian aid, civil defense and demining, as well as for "peace-building" activities. However, several MPs stated that many issues still need to be clarified in terms of the recovery of Ukraine and international cooperation.

The proposal was put forward by the chamberʼs committee on foreign affairs back in March. His representative Nicholas Walder explained that Switzerlandʼs refusal of armed aid to Ukraine "should not release us from our solidarity efforts to support Ukraine."

"Allocating 0.22% of GDP to help this country, Switzerland is behind almost all European countries. Austria and Norway are doing much more in line with their economic power. Even Poland spends 3.1% of its GDP on aid," Walder noted.

• Switzerlandʼs neutrality is one of the main principles of the countryʼs foreign policy, which states that it has no right to participate in armed or political conflicts between other states. On March 8, 2023, Switzerland finally did not support the re-export of ammunition to Ukraine, and then postponed for a year the consideration of changes to the rules on the re-export of weapons.
• Then it became known that Switzerland will destroy 60 serviceable Rapier air defense systems, which could well be transferred to Ukraine.
• In February 2023, Eagle I armored vehicles manufactured by the Swiss company Mowag were spotted in the Ukrainian front-line cities of Chasiv Yar and Avdiyivka, but it is unknown how they ended up here.
• In April, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States sent a letter to the Swiss authorities urging them to take additional measures to strengthen international sanctions against Russia.