Arahamia doubted the concept of Switzerland`s neutrality

David Arahamia

The head of the «Servant of the People» faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia from Mykolaiv, criticized Switzerland for its position on the supply of weapons to Ukraine, and also questioned the effectiveness of its policy of neutrality.

He stated this in an interview with the publication of the Swiss media group CH-Media, which is quoted by the Keystone-ATS news agency, «European Truth» reports.

Davyd Arakhamia explained that he understands Switzerland's reluctance to directly transfer weapons to Ukraine, but expressed misunderstanding why it blocks the re-export of its own weapons by other states.

— If Switzerland continues to follow this path, eventually it will completely lose its arms market. This would be the end of the Swiss arms industry, — he believes.

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David Arahamia claims that Ukraine knows of cases where the presence of Swiss components in a certain weapon became an obstacle to its sale, because buyers «do not want to pay for something that they cannot then give to anyone».

He noted that he does not see much perspective in the concept of neutrality.

Neutrality helped the Swiss people after World War II, but I don't think it works in today's world, —he said.

Davyd Arakhamia also called on Switzerland to invest more in Ukraine — in particular, in the issue of joint production of weapons, mentioning its important contributions in the field of financial support and demining.

As you know, Switzerland's neutrality currently prohibits the delivery of weapons directly to war zones. This rule applies even if another country has bought weapons from Switzerland: the buyer countries must sign a so-called non-re-export declaration.

We remind you that the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) of Switzerland, in cooperation with the cantonal authorities, has developed a plan for the voluntary return of Ukrainian refugees to their homeland. As part of the plan, the authorities intend to cancel the temporary protection status «S» for Ukrainians in 2024-2025.