Swiss parliament votes to outlaw Hezbollah and Hamas: what made the neutral country take such measures

On Tuesday, December 17, the Swiss parliament voted to ban the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, earlier outlawing the Hamas terrorist group. This is a rare step by a neutral country that traditionally adheres to a policy of promoting international dialogue and mediation.

The ban was passed by the lower house after the upper house of parliament approved it. Supporters of the decision said that the group is a threat to international security and that Switzerland needs to ban them in order to take a stand against terrorism, Reuters reports.

At the same time, the Swiss government opposed the ban.

"If Switzerland now moves to ban such organisations with special laws, we must ask ourselves where and how the boundaries are drawn," said Justice Minister Beat Jans during a parliamentary debate.

The Security Policy Committee, which proposed the ban, argued that Switzerland's mediation role would remain unchanged due to a specific provision for peace talks and humanitarian aid.

Last week, the Swiss parliament outlawed Hamas for the Palestinian terrorist group's October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel. Earlier, Switzerland banned only al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, which are included in the UN list of terrorist organizations.

As reported, earlier, Switzerland expressed support for the "peace initiative" of China and Brazil to end the war in Ukraine. US and EU representatives rejected it as "Moscow's military strategy".

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