For two centuries, Switzerland has stood apart as a nation refusing to take sides even as empires rose and fell around it. Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, its commitment to neutrality became its brand as much as its belief.
Today however, that proud posture is under renewed scrutiny. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended Europe’s security order, the United States has put the transatlantic partnership in doubt, the European Union is moving toward collective defence, and NATO has expanded to include Finland and Sweden. Meanwhile, cyberattacks, disinformation, and drone incursions are blurring the lines between war and peace.
Switzerland is now weighing whether to join Europe’s evolving security and defence structures, or double down on the neutrality that has guided it for centuries.
Switzerland rethinking neutrality
Switzerland’s policy of military nonalignment has deep roots. The country is a member of neither NATO nor the EU, and it joined the United Nations only in 2002. For generations, that distance was a strength — allowing the Swiss to host international organisations and mediate conflicts without taking sides.
Yet in recent years, that calculus has begun to change.
“Even Switzerland is now affected by cyberattacks, disinformation and espionage,” Fabian Molina told The Parliament. A Social Democrat member of the lower chamber of the Swiss Parliament, Molina authored a resolution on security cooperation with the EU that was adopted in mid-September.
The war in Ukraine, fears of a US retreat from Europe, and a surge in hybrid threats have forced a reckoning. Switzerland is now debating how — and how far — neutrality should adapt. Some want more flexible interpretation that allows deeper cooperation with the EU and NATO. Others want to codify neutrality in the constitution, making it a permanent fixture once and for all.
This debate comes as Bern and Brussels try to thaw their frosty relations after years of stalled negotiations on a wide range of issues, including trade, energy and education. While Switzerland has been part of Europe’s Schengen, passport-free zone since 2008 and takes part in two EU security projects — on military mobility and cyber-defence training — further steps towards integration would likely meet domestic political resistance.
A cautious opening toward European defence cooperation
Over the summer, the governing Federal Council signalled openness to a new security and defence partnership with the EU — a delicate move for a neutral country. The United Kingdom and Canada have signed similar agreements in recent months, while Australia is in talks. Such accords are a prerequisite for non-EU countries’ participation in the EU’s new SAFE (Security Action for Europe) scheme, launched earlier this year as the bloc’s first real leap towards collective defence.
Through the scheme, countries can jointly acquire air-defence, ground-combat, and other strategic capabilities, boosting their bargaining power and prioritising “made in Europe” weapons. According to the EU Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030, less than half of military equipment is procured within the Union, as national strategies and non-European suppliers — notably the US — still dominate.
SAFE has already provisionally assigned its entire €150 billion envelope in loans to 19 of the EU’s 27 member states. While only EU members can access SAFE’s funding directly, non-EU partners including Switzerland can benefit from joint procurements through a security deal, also allowing their national industries to bypass the bloc’s 35%-limit on non-EU weapons purchases.
According to the government in Bern, such a move wouldn’t violate neutrality. During a visit to Brussels in June 2025, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister told reporters that “a robust European security architecture is in our interest,” while stressing that “it is also important to explain to partners where our limits lie.” Unlike NATO membership, a security and defence deal would not entail mutual-assistance obligations should another partner come under attack.
“Cooperation in the field of security policy with our neighbours is becoming increasingly important,” Molina said. He believes that “neutrality does not pose any obstacle to joining SAFE — let alone the EU itself.” After Finland and Sweden acceded to NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively, only three EU Member States — Ireland, Malta and Austria — remain neutral. While remaining measured in their approach to military integration, they have not impeded the EU’s growing defence cooperation.
In practical terms, neutrality means that a country “does not participate militarily in the wars of others, does not accept the stationing of foreign troops on its territory and, in peacetime, does not enter military alliances or defence treaties,” historian Marco Jorio, founder of the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland and a neutrality expert, explained to The Parliament. Until now, Swiss authorities have followed a pre-World Wars idea of equidistance from what they call co-belligerents, he argued. But “neutrality is, instead, a flexible concept and must adapt to the geopolitical context,” Jorio warned, adding that making it more rigid means tending towards isolationism.
Switzerland’s domestic battle over neutrality
If Europe is moving towards integration, Switzerland’s domestic debate might be pulling in the opposite direction. For many, neutrality isn’t just a policy — it’s a creed. And some want to make it law. Pro Schweiz, a nationalist, anti-EU and anti-NATO campaign group, has launched a popular initiative to define what Switzerland's “perpetual” neutrality is, and what red lines cannot be crossed, spokesperson Kevin Grangier told The Parliament. A referendum is likely to take place in a year’s time.
Grangier, also a member of the conservative UDC party, believes that flexible interpretations risk “discrediting neutrality abroad, which allows us to play a diplomatic role.” Pro Schweiz’s proposal includes wording that would tighten limits on economic sanctions and restrict Switzerland’s security cooperation with partner countries.
If successful, the initiative could freeze any attempts to join EU defence schemes. “Cooperation can take place at the operational level. That includes technical aspects, but certainly not political ones,” Grangier said. He warned against any new structural rapprochement, but would keep the door open to specific one-off joint military trainings, like the ones Switzerland now performs with neighbours such as Austria or France.
Among those who push for closer defence cooperation with the EU are representatives of the Swiss military industry who believe that joint procurement would increase predictability and create more opportunities.
“It’s extremely important that we can deliver to our partners,” Matthias Zoller, secretary general of Swiss ASD — the country’s defence, security and aerospace industry body — told The Parliament. “Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, for example, accounted for more than 40% of all our exports in 2023.”
Zoller thinks that Switzerland “must absolutely find a way to participate in SAFE,” but warns that strict domestic legislation on arms exports could make Swiss weapon systems unattractive to European buyers. Swiss law bans exports of arms and components alike to any country engaged in conflict — a principle meant to uphold neutrality. “Many would question buying weapons from Switzerland,” he said. In the event of a war, “systems risk becoming practically useless, as they would no longer receive spare parts or additional weapons.”
Deciding Switzerland’s defence future
The coming years could reshape Switzerland’s place in Europe. In 2026, Parliament’s upper chamber is expected to greenlight entering negotiations with the EU for a defence deal, possibly culminating in a UK-style pact by the end of the year. The ultimate decision to kick off talks with the EU rests with the federal government. Around the same time, voters will likely face a referendum on Pro Schweiz’s proposal to lock neutrality into the constitution.
But even as Bern weighs closer cooperation with Europe, enthusiasm in Brussels remains muted. Recent reports suggest that the EU’s focus is elsewhere — on strengthening security ties with larger partners such as the G7 — leaving Switzerland’s overtures in a kind of strategic limbo.
Together, these crosscurrents capture the tension shaping Switzerland’s next chapter. For a nation long defined by its distance from power blocs, neutrality is no longer a default posture but a deliberate choice — one that’s becoming harder to sustain in a shifting European landscape.
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