Germany no longer wants military equipment from Switzerland

A letter from Germany is making waves. It says that Swiss companies are excluded from applying for procurement from the Bundeswehr.

10.09.2024, 22:31

The Bundeswehr does not want to buy multispectral camouflage equipment from Switzerland.

A Swiss company wants to take part in a large German tender for 100,000 stationary multispectral camouflage equipment for the Bundeswehr. The catch: The company's production facility must be located on EU territory, according to the tender.

A mistake, the company thinks. The European Free Trade Association Efta with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway has probably been forgotten. It is addressed to the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr. Switzerland delivered the most war material to these countries in 2023 – 5 graphics

This is where the disillusionment follows: the Efta states have by no means been forgotten. The decision was made consciously to have a production facility in the EU. There will be no deviation from this. Letter explains German “Lex Switzerland”

A short time later, a letter from Germany to the Federal Office for Armaments Armasuisse, which “Le Temps” reported on, provided clarity. The Federal Office, which reports to the Federal Ministry of Defense, said that the aim of the procurement was to avoid an effect similar to that of ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank. A production facility in the Efta states was deliberately excluded. The multispectral camouflage equipment was one of the central technologies for the Bundeswehr. In addition, they must be able to be passed on to a partner country in the event of war.

In the letter, the German Federal Office referred to the squabble between Germany and Switzerland over 12,000 rounds for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank. Germany wanted to pass it on to Ukraine. It had been bought in Switzerland and needed the country's blessing because of a non-re-export declaration. She said no for reasons of neutrality.

The letter is proof that there is a “Lex Switzerland” in Germany: the country no longer buys defense products from Switzerland. Armaments chief Urs Loher put it drastically in “Le Temps”: “Switzerland is no longer trustworthy for Germany. In the German parliament, for example, 'Swiss Free' is apparently used in the same breath as 'China Free'."

Parliament in the Netherlands has already decided not to buy any more military equipment from Switzerland. Similar considerations also exist in Denmark and Spain. It is not yet clear in the DDPS whether the German letter is a shot across the bow or just the beginning.

Commoners blame themselves

The situation is causing mutual blame among the bourgeois parties. “We are working to definitely destroy the Swiss arms industry,” says FDP President Thierry Burkart. The left has been working towards this for decades by tightening the War Materials Act. “The SVP is now its enforcer because by misinterpreting our neutrality it is preventing the transfer of arms from European states to Ukraine.”

Burkart submitted a motion in 2022 in which he demanded that a non-re-export declaration could be dispensed with entirely if the delivery was made to countries that are committed to our values. “It has nothing to do with neutrality if other countries want to support each other with weapons that they bought in Switzerland years ago.” Switzerland wants to develop attack drones – the reasons and stumbling blocks

The SVP passes the hot potato to the center. “The damage was caused by the tightening of the War Materials Act,” says President Marcel Dettling. “The center is to blame for this with their huffing and puffing: they tightened the law with the left, but wanted to go back after the war broke out.” Without tightening the regulations, export authority would have remained with the Federal Council. “This policy lacks longevity.”

The SVP was against tightening the law, but then did not want to make an exception for Ukraine because it was not prepared to deliver to war zones. “We are now offering to ensure that countries that have purchased military equipment in Switzerland are allowed to export them again after a period of five years.”

The center holds the government accountable. “The Federal Council can, on its own initiative, authorize the export of weapons purchased in Switzerland to other countries, based on Articles 184 and 185 of the Federal Constitution,” says President Gerhard Pfister. “The general tightening of the arms export law still allows this. But the SVP-FDP Federal Council doesn’t want to do that.” And Parliament has not yet managed to find a solution that can win a majority.

Pfister counters the SVP accusation with a counter question: “Why is she now resisting the delivery of protective vests for reasons of neutrality, but wants to allow the re-export of weapons?”

The Swiss company now wants to produce in an EU country. (aargauerzeitung.ch/lyn)