A coalition of around 28 parties and organisations has launched its campaign against a revised Swiss War Material Act, calling the changes immoral and anti-Ukraine. Voters will decide on the bill, which would make it easier to export weapons, on 29 November.
The campaign opens a debate that touches on Swiss neutrality, the country’s humanitarian image and the interests of its defence industry.
The alliance brings together left-leaning parties, the Evangelical People’s Party, Caritas, the Group for a Switzerland without an Army, Justitia et Pax and a commission of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference. At a briefing in Bern on Monday, its members said the new rules would allow direct exports again, including to countries caught up in civil war. According to their joint statement, export criteria would be dropped entirely for 36 countries, among them the United States and Argentina, which the coalition described as a blank cheque for Donald Trump and Javier Milei. Ukraine is excluded from the relaxation, a carve-out the opponents see as a concession to the Swiss People’s Party and arms makers.
Critics also object to the room for manoeuvre the bill gives the government, which could set aside the usual criteria by citing exceptional circumstances or Switzerland’s interests. Social Democrat MP Fabian Molina called those grounds vague, and said buyers would be free to pass Swiss weapons on to any other country, something he said no other European country allows. The campaigners warned that Swiss arms could end up in Sudan, or in Israel for use in Gaza.
Martina Weber of Caritas linked export decisions to civilian harm, displacement and refugee movements. Alicia Giraudel of Amnesty International said the law would weaken political safeguards and raise questions about Swiss credibility on human rights. Green Party president Lisa Mazzone argued that the industry did not need the change. “It is not the arms lobby that decides, but the people,” she said. Exports reached nearly CHF1 billion in 2025, with orders of almost CHF3 billion. Marc Jost of the Evangelical People’s Party recalled the 2021 compromise that persuaded civil society groups to withdraw an earlier initiative. Reopening the issue so soon, he said, damages political credibility and Switzerland’s role as a mediator, because a country cannot broker peace in the morning and supply ammunition for the same conflicts in the afternoon.
