Referring to neutral status: Switzerland blocks the transfer of helmets and body armor to Ukraine

The Swiss Council of States, the upper house of the country's Federal Assembly, has rejected a proposal by its colleagues from the National Council to provide Ukraine with helmets and bulletproof vests. Swiss lawmakers again cited their country's neutrality law.

The decision of the Cantonal Council was made amid heated discussions, according to the media in Switzerland. The fact is that the Ukrainian request for helmets and body armor is more than two years old. At the same time, Switzerland provides Ukraine with other similar assistance, such as mine detectors, without any problems.

Each time the government rejected the request for helmets and body armor, it made the same reference to the country's neutral status, but the specific wording was always different. This time, it sounds like this: people in Ukraine may use helmets and vests for both civilian and military purposes.

The Swiss opposition, in particular the Liberal and Social Democrat parties, tried to convince their colleagues in the Council of Cantons that the request was for helmets and body armor exclusively for civilian Ukrainians - for utility workers, doctors, rescuers, etc.

The lawmakers also said that this was absurd: Switzerland supplies Ukraine with demining equipment to protect people after an attack, but not bulletproof vests for prevention.

However, the president of the Security Policy Committee, Werner Salzmann, replied that "the Swiss army does not have enough protective vests for all soldiers and not a single helmet for the civilian population." In response, according to Neue Zürcher Zeitung, "the lawmaker looked quite angry."

According to opposition lawmakers, Switzerland, whether it wants to or not, is "playing in Russia's favor" with this decision.

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

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