Alice
Kohli
The return of power politics is
forcing Switzerland to confront the limits of neutrality.
(L-R)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss federal
president Karin Keller-Sutter. (Graphic by Truthdig. Images sourced via
AP Photo and Adobe Stock.)
Switzerland,
a nation that thrives on ambiguity, was a natural to host this year’s
Eurovision Song Contest, an earnest spectacle that is also satire. Since 1956,
the nonpolitical cringe-fest has encouraged European unity with melody, humor
and sequins, evolving over the decades into the mirror image of a conflicted,
chaotic and strangely cohesive continent.
However,
the ESC slogan, “United By Music,” felt like wishful thinking this year. As
Europe recalibrates in a world reordered by Donald Trump’s return to the White
House, it is less united than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
Longstanding assumptions about security and trade no longer hold, and Brussels
is struggling to find a common voice as nations like Hungary and Slovakia lean
into Trumpism and most of the populations of Germany, Spain, France and Italy
view the American president as a destabilizing force.
The
non-European Union member state of Switzerland faces an especially bewildering
moment of reckoning. In Bern, politicians are debating how to navigate the
shifting ground. When the Trump administration unveiled a punitive tariff rate
of 31% — far higher than the 20% facing the EU — an audible gasp resounded
through Switzerland. After Eric Trump said on X, “The first to negotiate will
win,” a small flurry of one-way diplomatic courtship in Bern, Geneva and
Washington ensued, punctuated by Switzerland’s president Karin Keller-Sutter
and Guy Parmelin, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, wrapping boxes of
chocolate on their way to talks with Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and
trade representative Jamieson Greer.
The
Swiss officials returned from the meeting beaming: Switzerland, they announced,
had been ushered into an inner circle of “priority” trade partners.
Keller-Suter and Parmelin belong to the conservative majority in the
government. They set the tone in foreign policy and stubbornly ignore the
critical voices in parliament who want Switzerland to adopt the EU strategy of
imposing counter-tariffs. True, joining forces with neighbor states is not
exactly a tradition in Switzerland. For decades, the country focused on
developing its global network of banks, insurance companies and wealth
management firms. By not being formally allied with its strong neighbors, it
profited twice over by doing business with countries under sanction by
Brussels.
Apart
from that, the country managed to establish a sizable pharmaceutical industry,
with market leaders Roche and Novartis. The pharmaceutical companies are the
main cause for the trade deficit with the U.S., and yet their products were
exempt from the threatened tariffs from the outset, prompting them to announce
major investments in the U.S. The pharmaceutical CEOs’ satisfaction, however,
is likely short-lived, given Trump’s most recent announcement of his intention
to lower drug prices in the U.S. Decision-makers can be observed running from
one corner of the playing field to the other, all at the point of Trump’s
finger.
While
managers across Europe are eager to allay the fears of a trade war, the
continents’ citizens worry about the erosion of the transatlantic alliance and
the possibility of an actual war. A majority of Europeans see Russia as an
adversary and no longer perceive the U.S. as a reliable partner. Switzerland,
which for decades has benefited from NATO without formally joining it, has at
best been able to refer to its role as a mediator in international conflicts.
In terms of military power, it is particularly ill-equipped.
Neutrality
is no longer the refuge it once was, and Switzerland is increasingly frowned
upon by its neighbors for not making enough of an effort to maintain peace and
prosperity on the continent. After Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, Finland and
Sweden have joined NATO, the military spending of the Baltic states and Poland
skyrocketed. Joining NATO is out of the question for most Swiss, especially now
that the alliance appears to be deeply divided. But carrying on as before is no
longer an option.
A
majority of the Swiss population wants to increase government spending on
defense — but nobody seems to know how. The recent purchase of American F-35
fighter jets has prompted an awkward national conversation. What does a
landlocked, alpine nation intend to do with supersonic jets? Switzerland,
notably, does have a sizable weapon industry, exporting mostly to European
countries like Germany, but it is prohibited by law to export weapons to
countries where there is an armed conflict, or even a threat of armed conflict.
Switzerland
thus does not export weapons to Ukraine and does not allow for countries that
have purchased weapons from Switzerland, to transfer them to Ukraine. This has
invited loudening accusations of moral evasiveness. Swiss politicians have been
wrestling with a guilty conscience and the legal possibilities of allowing the
transfer of weapons to warring parties in certain cases, despite Switzerland’s
neutrality. So far, however, all proposals have failed. As politicians grapple
with these new realities, the Swiss army has been ensnared in a series of
scandals, suggesting the country is much better at making money than at making
war.
For
all its differences with EU member states, Switzerland’s internal debates are
comparable to those of its neighbor states. Increase defense spending — yes,
but how? Secure trade routes — yes, but at what expense? And similar to the
rest of Europe, the country’s far right party, the SVP, is benefitting from an
overall rise in fear and insecurity, just like the AfD in Germany, the Front
National in France, the Fratelli d’Italia in Italy and all the others.
“The
return of power politics is a major challenge, especially for a small country
like Switzerland,” says Fabian Molina, member of the Social Democrats and
National Councilor who sits on the Commissions for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy. “It is high time for Switzerland to forge closer contractual ties with
Europe and actively support the EU’s efforts to preserve the rules-based
order.” Molina argues that, instead of following its usual path of neutrality
and profit maximization, Switzerland should return to older traditions of
peacebuilding and bolstering international law, even at the expense of its
relations with Washington.
But
if Switzerland retains idealistic voices for building a better world, it is
also preparing for the worst. This is reflected not only in growing defense
budgets, but also in the distribution of an updated Cold War-era fallout
shelter protocol titled, “Behavior in Crisis and War: A Guide for the Public.”
It instructs the public how to prepare for a possible nuclear war by storing a
week’s worth of water, rice, pasta and a battery-powered radio. It focuses on
the only way Switzerland could react to major war on the continent: Hiding in
the vast bunker system created in the 1960s, which by law guarantees every
resident a spot.
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