Swiss voters set to reject tighter neutrality rules in referendum
About 71 percent of voters oppose initiative to impose stricter limits on neutrality, projection suggests.
Swiss voters appear to have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to impose stricter constitutional limits on the country’s longstanding neutrality.
About 71 percent voted against the initiative in a referendum on Sunday, according to a projection by the polling institute GFS Bern for the Swiss public broadcaster SRG.
The result would preserve the government’s ability to impose sanctions and cooperate with NATO, the transatlantic military alliance whose members include most of Switzerland’s larger neighbours, rather than lock those choices into a narrower constitutional definition of neutrality.
The Swiss government, parliament and nearly all major parties opposed the proposal, saying it would leave the country less able to respond to international crises.