Switzerland reckons with historic neutrality as it prepares to host Ukraine peace summit

An upcoming Ukraine peace summit, ostensibly the most ambitious bid in years by neutral Switzerland to mediate a major conflict, is instead showing how Swiss economic and security interests increasingly align with Western Europe over Russia. This is the view of both Swiss advocates of closer cooperation with Western powers and nationalist opponents who say Switzerland is abandoning its neutral tradition and should limit the scope for foreign entanglements.

Rather than ending the war, the summit is poised to work towards mitigating risks stemming from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and trying to isolate Russia, according to Western diplomats and Swiss foreign policy experts. 'It's going to be about shoring up Ukraine rather than bridge-building for immediate peace,' said Daniel Woker, a former Swiss ambassador to Australia, Singapore and Kuwait.

Thomas Borer, a former Swiss ambassador to Germany, said Switzerland's business and security interests are overwhelmingly tied to Western Europe, North America and their allies, making it strategically imperative to stand with Ukraine. Government protestations of neutrality would not change that, he added. 'Neither the Russians nor our Western allies view us as neutral,' he said. Around two-thirds of Swiss exports go to North America, the EU, Britain, Japan and Australia.

The SVP has initiated a referendum to embed neutrality in the constitution, though it is unlikely to be held before 2025. The party's most emblematic figure, Christoph Blocher, this month criticized the peace summit, saying failure to invite Russia did not augur well for Switzerland. 'We're only bringing the Ukrainians,' he said. 'And we say we're neutral.'

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