Swiss Arms Industry And EU Funds

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The Swiss government is seeking a security partnership with the European Union. But is this interest mutual? This content was published on September 12, 2026 - 10:00 6 minutes

Where does Switzerland stand in the world? And where is it heading? I focus on current and possible future developments. After completing my studies (history, law and European studies), I worked for a time at the Swiss embassy in Athens. I have journalistic experience at home and abroad, at the local and national levels, as a freelancer and as a staff journalist. Today, it's with an international focus.

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Despite its neutrality, there has never been any doubt about Switzerland's alignment with the West. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has drawn ever closer to its Western partners, including militarily – for instance, by joining the European Sky Shield Initiative and strengtheningExternal link cooperation with NATO.

Last year, the Swiss government announcedExternal link its intention to hold talks with the European Union (EU) on a security agreement. In summer 2026, the Swiss parliament gave the government a mandate to conduct exploratory talks. If these go well, parliament will then decide on a specific negotiating mandate.

What the Swiss government has in mind is a security and defence partnership. This is above all a political agreement and declaration of intent, explains Gesine Weber, an expert on security and defence at the Centre for Security Studies (CSS) at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich.“Under such partnerships, the parties agree to deepen their dialogue and cooperate more closely at a strategic level. The agreements typically also specify the various policy areas in which they wish to cooperate.”

As Weber notes in a CSS AnalysisExternal link, the EU has significantly stepped up its cooperation with non-member states in the realm of security and defence since 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And, as the analysis shows, it is doing so relatively quickly and flexibly. Since late 2024, the EU has signed 12 such partnerships with countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, India and Ghana.

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The EU has concluded defence agreements with non-EU European states such as Norway and the UK, but also with partners further afield, such as Canada and India. These are countries that the EU already cooperates with on security matters.“With such agreements, the EU aims to provide a more robust political framework for existing cooperation. A further aim is often to strengthen cooperation in the defence industry,” says Weber.

This is no minor matter. The member states are set to invest €800 billionExternal link (CHF750 billion) in EU defence by 2030.

And Switzerland wants to be in on this, too.

A chance for the Swiss defence industry

As a neutral, armed country, Switzerland has always set great store by having its own defence industry. This has also been partly financed by sales to European partners. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, however, Switzerland has been in a bind, as it bans the resale of Swiss-made weaponry to countries at war. This has not only triggered a crisis of confidence among its partner states in the EU, but also led to tangible export losses, as Swiss arms have been shunned ever since.

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