THE Swiss Parliament’s largest faction, the People’s Party chose not to attend an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging lawmakers to revise the nation’s policies on arms exports.
In his speech to parliament, Zelenskyy called for the legislators to allow exports and re-exports of Swiss-made material to Ukraine.
Prior to the Ukrainian president’s address, the People’s Party with 53 seats in the 200-seat lower house and 6 in the 46-seat upper house already announced their intent to ignore the call of Zelenskyy.
People’s Party MP Alfred Heer stated that, and quote,
“We understand that the Ukrainian president wants to do everything to defend Ukraine. But we must not allow ourselves to be put under pressure on the issue of sanctions or arms deliveries.”
It can be noted that Switzerland has imposed sanctions against Russia.
However, it has also rejected requests to allow re-exports of Swiss-made weaponry to Ukraine.
