Swiss Vote to Retain Military

Swiss voters Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to scrap the armed forces, cherished by many as vital protection for the small, long-neutral Alpine country in the heart of Europe.

Only 384,991 people, or 21.9% of those participating, voted in favor of the initiative.

The proposal was put forward by a coalition called Switzerland Without an Army under a law that allows anyone to force a referendum by collecting 100,000 signatures from voters.

“The lack of security following the Sept. 11 attacks made it difficult to conduct a reasoned discussion of defense policy,” said Jo Lang, spokesman for the coalition.

Defense Minister Samuel Schmid said the outcome was a vote for “security and against adventure.”

“The elimination of the Swiss army would have done nothing to make the world safer,” he said, “but would definitely have made Switzerland less secure.”

The proposal had been made long before the terror attacks on the United States. To be implemented it required a majority of voters nationwide and in more than half of the 26 cantons, or states. Not a single canton voted in favor of the measure.

“The initiative . . . aims to abolish an outdated institution of a man’s world where blind obedience and hatred of women still rule,” the campaigners said.

The plan would have added the phrase “Switzerland has no army” to the federal constitution, going on to say that the country’s national security policy is built around reducing the injustices that lead to conflicts, both within the country and abroad.

Switzerland declared itself neutral in 1515, and the last battle against a foreign power was in 1798, when Napoleon invaded. The country remained neutral throughout both world wars and is not a member of the United Nations or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Campaigners questioned the purpose of an army for a population of 7.2 million surrounded by countries of the European Union. “No military power is threatening us . . . against whom are we supposed to defend ourselves? The European Union? NATO?”

They pointed out that the army costs Switzerland $5.4 billion a year, almost a fifth of the government budget that in 2000 was $28 billion. To justify the expense, opponents said, army chiefs found other jobs for soldiers, such as civil defense, disaster relief and anti-terrorism efforts--jobs that could be more efficiently and more effectively handled by civilian organizations.

Nearly 77% also rejected a separate referendum issue that would have created a voluntary service of people trained to solve conflicts without violence.

Switzerland currently has 350,000 soldiers, most of them reservists. All men are conscripted at age 20 and undergo 15 weeks of basic training followed by regular two- to three-week training sessions. Only 1% of the Swiss army is professional.

Women can enlist in the army, but only in noncombatant roles.