Open Letter to the Swiss Federal Council: Neutrality is Peace, NATO is War

Dear Honorable Federal Councilors,

Fort the past several years You, the Swiss Government, have been gradually, silently – and without any public discussion – approaching NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Today, Switzerland has already an associated member delegation with 6 seats in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA). See this https://www.parlament.ch/en/organe/delegations/delegations-international-parliamentary-assemblies/nato-parliamentary-assembly .

This is clearly a step anti-neutral Switzerland.

And anti-democratic, because You, honorable Swiss Government, never consulted the Swiss people.

——-
NATO was set up in 1949, in the wake of WWII, as a defense apparatus – mainly under the pretext to defend Europe against the looming dangers of the then Soviet Union – today’s Russia.

NATO was THE organization to foster the Cold War, to indoctrinate then already the people with fear from an impending invasion of the Soviet Union. Later the world found out that there was never a danger of the USSR aggressing Europe, let alone the United States.

NATO should have been dissolved at the latest when the Soviet Union collapsed, in 1991.

The Warsaw Pact, set up in 1955 as a counterpart to NATO, was resolved in the early 1990s.

NATO was not.

NATO was never a defense association – NATO is a War Machine.

And You, Dear Federal Councilors, want to further approach NATO and possibly even join them?
—-

In 1991 NATO had 16 member states. Today NATO has 32 members, 30 of which are in Europe. The only transatlantic members are US and Canada.

Today, NATO is represented in some 800-plus US military basis around the world; close to 700 of them are surrounding Russia and China.

Recalling Swiss Neutrality back almost 210 years – to 1815, this quote from an internal CIA document of 23 April 1955 [OCI No. 3377/55, copy No. 2], may be a significant reminder of the importance of Swiss neutrality:

“Switzerland’s neutrality as envisages by the Treaty of Vienna of March 2815 was not a new conception, nor was its recognition by foreign powers a novel idea”……”And the famous Act of Perpetual Swiss Neutrality and Inviolability, signed on 20 November 1815 by Austria, Great Britain, Russia and Prussia, declared Switzerland a perpetual neutral country and contains the much quoted lines, “The neutrality and inviolability of Switzerland and its independence from all foreign influences are in the true interests of the policies of the whole of Europe.””

——-
The Swiss Foreign Department covets Swiss Neutrality on its website as an “inviolable” asset, with reference to The Hague Conventions of October 1907 – see this https://www.eda.admin.ch/missions/mission-eu-brussels/en/home/key-issues/neutralitaet-der-schweiz.html .Yet, our Minister of Defense and current President of the Swiss Confederation, is moving Switzerland ever closer into the realm of NATO, without consultation of the Swiss people.

 

Joining NATO would be the death knell of Swiss neutrality.

 

You know this, Honorable Federal Councilors.

 

After all, a successful People’s Initiative for Swiss Neutrality was completed and submitted to the Federal Chancellery on 11 April 2024, with almost 130,000 valid signatures (100,000 are needed). It will be submitted to a popular vote, expected in 2025 / 2026, and if accepted, Neutrality will be enshrined in the Swiss Constitution.

 

——
NATO Budget

 

Dear Federal Councilors, you may know that the total NATO Budget 2024 amounts to about US$1.4 trillion – of which about two thirds are funded by the US and one third by Europe and Canada. It is an “annual fund” for killing and destruction – and for enriching the international military Industrial Complex (IMIC).

 

In his first term in Office, President Trump called on the European NATO members to increase their military budget to at least 2% of their GDP. Some countries may have done this, others are still far from meeting this target.

 

See this for current NATO spending per member country –https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/11/how-much-does-each-nato-country-spend-in-2024#:~:text=In%20February%2C%20NATO%20Secretary%2DGeneral,largest%20military%20spender%20by%20far.

 

It is conceivable that Mr. Trump, in his new term as US President, will repeat this call on European NATO members.

 

The Swiss military budget for the coming 4 years – 2025 to 2028 is approximately CHF 30 billion, about CHF 7.5 billion per year. This is equivalent to less than 1% of the estimated Swiss GDP for 2024 (CHF 784 billion). If Switzerland would join NATO and follow Mr. Trump’s mandate, the military budget would have to be doubled to about CHF 15 billion per year.
——

 

Alternative Spending

 

With a fraction of the 2024 NATO budget of US$ 1.4 trillion, world famine could be eliminated. Oxfam estimates that eradicating world hunger in all its forms would require $31.7 billion, plus US$ 4 billion for debt relief of the world’s poorest countries, a total of about US$ 35.7 billion. This is less than 3% of the G7 annual military budget, or about 2.55% of NATO’s 2024 budget.
See this https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/less-3-g7-military-spending-could-help-end-global-hunger-and-solve-global-south-debt#:~:text=Eradicating%20world%20hunger%20in%20all,a%20total%20of%20%2435.7%20billion.
——–Dear Federal Councilors, do you believe Swiss citizens would want to participate in this monstruous and murderous endeavor, called NATO? – And that, to the detriment of Swiss neutrality?

 

Me personally, I believe most Swiss do not want to become a NATO member, and give up their legendary Neutrality.

 

Therefore, Dear Federal Councilors, may I urge you to reconsider, as a sovereign Swiss Confederation – not accepting pressures from outside, and abandoning this anti-Neutrality move.

 

A Neutral Switzerland would be able to mediate between conflict parties and help rebuild a stable, harmonious and Peaceful World Society.

 

 

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020). Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.