NYT WORLD: War in Ukraine Puts Centuries of Swiss Neutrality to the Test
By Erika Solomon
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 12, 2023 at 02:00AM
In Switzerland’s capital, nestled beneath snow-capped mountains, inside parliamentary chambers of stained glass and polished wood, the debate is over the country’s vaunted legacy of neutrality — and what neutrality even means in a new era of war for Europe.
Switzerland, it turns out, has an arms industry that makes badly needed ammunition for some of the weapons that Europeans have supplied to Ukraine, as well as some of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks they have promised.
But it also has strict rules on where those weapons can go — namely a law, now the subject of heated debate, that bans any nation that purchases Swiss arms from sending them to the party of a conflict, like Ukraine.
By Erika Solomon
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 12, 2023 at 02:00AM
The Alpine state makes arms that Western allies want to send to Kyiv. Swiss law bans this, driving a national debate about whether its concept of neutrality should change.
In Eastern Europe, Ukrainians are in the trenches. Farther west, European capitals are grappling with a new order in which war is no longer theoretical. Yet, tucked away in the heart of the continent, the Swiss are fretting over loftier ideals.In Switzerland’s capital, nestled beneath snow-capped mountains, inside parliamentary chambers of stained glass and polished wood, the debate is over the country’s vaunted legacy of neutrality — and what neutrality even means in a new era of war for Europe.
Switzerland, it turns out, has an arms industry that makes badly needed ammunition for some of the weapons that Europeans have supplied to Ukraine, as well as some of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks they have promised.
But it also has strict rules on where those weapons can go — namely a law, now the subject of heated debate, that bans any nation that purchases Swiss arms from sending them to the party of a conflict, like Ukraine.
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/12/world/europe/swiss-neutrality-russia-ukraine.html
Bonus Video
Footage released by a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on March 11, 2023 shows fierce battle between the Ukrainian Army and Russia's Wagner mercenaries in the bitterly-contested Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine.
The fight in Bakhmut has bought time to plan a future counteroffensive against Russia's forces, said Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces.
He said the conflict which has become the longest over a city in Ukraine was necessary to restock ammunition and to draw out a strategy for the next phase of the war.
The Bakhmutka River in the centre of Bakhmut now marks the front line. Ukrainian forces hold the west of the town and have demolished key bridges over the river.
Footage shows fierce battle in eastern Ukrainian city Bakhmut
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