Chief of Armament Urs Loher announced Switzerland’s participation in the European Sky Shield Initiative (E.S.S.I.) on 18 October 2024. The project seeks to build a unified air and missile defense system and ease the acquisition of air defense weapons across Europe, according to reporting from Reuters. In an official press release from the Swiss Federal Council, the government wrote joining will help streamline and increase international defense opportunities: “ESSI enables better coordination of procurement projects, training and logistical aspects in the area of ground-based air defence.”
Switzerland’s ascension to E.S.S.I. has been in process for months. According to a timeline provided by the Federal Council, on 10 April 2024, Switzerland’s Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (D.D.C.P.S.) signed the E.S.S.I. Cooperative Procurement Framework Memorandum of Understanding (M.o.U.). Then, on 8 July 2024, the Foreign Policy and the Security Policy Committees signed the E.S.S.I. application for membership, before it got to Loher’s desk this past week declaring official membership.
The E.S.S.I. was officially launched by Germany in 2022, and on 13 October 2022, 14 N.A.T.O.-ally Defense Ministers signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ for the development of the E.S.S.I. Some other member states now include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom. “This commitment is even more crucial today as we witness the ruthless and indiscriminate missile attacks by Russia in Ukraine, killing civilians and destroying critical infrastructure,” N.A.T.O. Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană said after the signing.
The news that Switzerland is now participating has not been met without dissent with opinions pointing to Switzerland breaking its infamous foreign policy of ‘neutrality’ by joining. One clause in the M.o.U. and a condition of Switzerland joining E.S.S.I., though, does allow Switzerland to withdraw its cooperation if “a member of the initiative becomes party to an international armed conflict.”
Some people believe it wouldn’t be a negative for Switzerland to amend some of its stringent stances, especially in the defense sector. The country’s Federal Act on War Materiel says that weapons cannot be delivered to countries at war and any second-party usage must be approved. According to reporting from Euractiv, Switzerland didn’t permit other countries to export Swiss-made ammunition stockpiles to Ukraine in 2023 despite frustration from Kyiv and other Western allies, including the United States.
Former diplomat Thomas Borer, a Swiss national credited as “The Architect of Swiss Neutrality,” acknowledged in an interview with TIME magazine that the nation’s neutrality policy has contributed to geopolitical stability and historically prevented Switzerland from being drawn into violent conflicts. This very clear position has also maintained political cohesion domestically and given Switzerland credibility as a mediator in international disputes. Borer said that now Switzerland needs to step up. “Foreign policy is here to defend Swiss interests and Swiss interests are best defended when we help our Western friends in case of an illegal war,” Borer said, arguing that neutrality has turned into dangerous isolation for Switzerland’s security.