The Sunday edition SonntagsZeitung of Switzerland’s daily Tagesanzeiger reported today that the Swiss government has vetoed allowing other countries to re-export Swiss-made ammunition used in Marder infantry fighting vehicles that Kyiv would like to obtain, according to a Reuters secondary account.
The newspaper quoted a spokesman for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), that it had received two requests from Germany regarding the transfer of the munitions it had received from Switzerland to Ukraine, and delivered a firm “No” for those requests, citing Swiss neutrality and the mandatory rejection criteria of the war materiel legislation. Switzerland also denied Poland’s request last month for arms to re-export to Ukraine.
Even though Switzerland has kowtowed to the pressure to adopt the European Union sanctions against Russia, it has strongly asserted its sovereign right as a neutral country to deny sending arms to conflict zones.
