The Swiss parliament has rejected a government proposal to join the US-led sanctions task force against Russia, saying it was sufficient to cooperate with the body as an independent party.
The committee of G7 countries is tasked with freezing and seizing Russian assets that fall under sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States over the war in Ukraine.
Switzerland has so far resisted pressure to formally join the task force, saying it was already in regular contact with the group and that cooperation was working well.
On Wednesday, MPs voted 101-80 against the Greens’ proposal, parliament said in a statement. The bill said Switzerland, “as a custodian of Russian assets and the main centre of Russian commodity trade”, bore a special responsibility for the effectiveness of sanctions.
A spokesman for the economy ministry told Bloomberg it welcomed the parliament’s decision as it confirmed the government’s position.
Sanctions are a hot topic in traditionally neutral Switzerland, where the government is caught between international and domestic pressure. Groups opposed to weakening neutrality, including the People’s Party, recently collected enough signatures to force a vote on adding a permanent non-alignment stance to the constitution.
This would also prohibit the government from participating in any sanctions regime.
