Swiss Communist Party on referendum for neutrality

Over 70 per cent of the Swiss people voted overwhelmingly to reject the constitutional initiative on neutrality launched by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC) in the referendum held on 27 September 2026. 

The Swiss government will therefore continue its current practice of neutrality, given that the initiators’ draft constitutional article – which incorporated their own definition of military neutrality and provisions on military alliances and sanctions – was rejected. 

According to the Swiss Communist Party, the scope of the provisions of this initiative – and, above all, of these exceptions – did not allow for the Swiss army to be truly withdrawn from its relations with NATO, nor for economic sanctions to be prohibited in the current context. 

For example, it is important to emphasise that the text of the initiative provided a constitutional basis for Switzerland’s participation in a military alliance in the event of a threat to the country, which offered a clear pretext for continuing military cooperation with NATO. 

The SVP/UDC’s motivation for launching this initiative was clearly neither peace nor neutrality, but rather to defend its position within the Swiss bourgeoisie. This party is, in fact, part of the government, with two of the seven ministers in the Federal Council. Christoph Blocher, the SVP/UDC’s long-standing leader, a businessman and a former member of the Swiss government between 2004 and 2007, personally funded the campaign to the tune of 4 million Swiss francs. 

The other governing parties, from the Socialist Party to the Liberal-Radical Party, on the other hand, broadly supported Switzerland’s foreign policy and the reinstatement of sanctions against Russia. Their campaign arguments against this initiative were no more convincing than those of the proposal’s initiators, as they sought to deny that the sanctions were part of a context of inter-imperialist tensions. 

For its part, a so-called ‘left-wing’ committee backed the initiative by falsely claiming that it represented a step towards ending all Swiss cooperation with NATO. Its political bluff, aimed at capitalising on some of the support for this initiative, suffered a resounding failure and proved fruitless. 

All Swiss cantons, as well as all age groups, genders and educational backgrounds, rejected this initiative. Clearly, SVP/UDC supporters were the only ones to have supported this referendum proposal by a majority. 

The result of the vote – with 29.85 per cent in favour and 70.15 per cent against – indeed points to a divide centred on the far right rather than on Switzerland’s foreign policy, which will continue to be a subject of debate in the future. As a reminder, the SVP/UDC won 27.93 per cent of the vote in 2023. 

Furthermore, no progressive social base was convinced by the far right’s hypocritical anti-war rhetoric, as the SVP/UDC has consistently supported increases in military budgets and the export of military equipment. In early September, this party even joined forces with the Liberal-Radical Party to back an increase in the budget allocation for the purchase of F-35s from the United States, amidst revelations of a massive scandal concerning the Federal Council’s lies regarding the terms of the contract for the purchase of these fighter jets. 

Consequently, the inconsistencies in the text of the initiative, together with the opportunism of the ‘Yes from the Left’ committee, handed a comfortable victory to Ignazio Cassis, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). 

The struggle for peace has no interest in subordinating itself to any alliance with the bourgeoisie, whether formed by social democracy, the liberal right or far-right ‘nationalism’. It must focus on the emergence of a broad social alliance—one that is popular, independent and class-based—which alone is capable of tackling the challenges of militarisation, austerity and war. 

The policy of neutrality, whether flexible or strict, in no way calls into question the Swiss bourgeoisie’s participation in the global imperialist system, nor does it make any fundamental contribution to peace and friendship between peoples. 

The Swiss Communist Party calls for the strengthening of the worker-popular movement – on the streets, in neighbourhoods and in workplaces – to effectively counter the anti-popular plans of the Swiss bourgeoisie, in the conditions of the crisis of capitalism and imperialist war.