Swiss voters reject tighter neutrality rules that would have curbed NATO cooperation

ZURICH — Swiss voters on Sunday firmly rejected a proposal to adopt a more restrictive form of neutrality that would have blocked their country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO. All cantons and about 70 percent of voters rejected the proposal for a strictly defined version of neutrality to be written into the Swiss constitution, final results from the Federal Statistical Office showed. "This result is not a vote against neutrality. Switzerland was neutral yesterday, it is neutral today, and it will remain neutral in the future," Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said at a press conference following the outcome. While Swiss neutrality has been internationally recognised since the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, how the government implements it is not spelled out. The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) has said that Switzerland's traditional position has been eroded after Bern imposed sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The campaign had funded posters across the country urging people to vote "No war, yes to neutrality," featuring white peac