© KEYSTONE/PETER SCHNEIDER
Switzerland, as a neutral country, must ensure its own security, insists Swiss Defense Minister Viola Amherd, echoing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the event of an attack, she can call for help, but does not know if her call will be heard, she says.
“In certain circumstances, Switzerland would be dependent on solidarity,” said Ms. Amherd in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the NZZ am Sonntag. It is precisely for this reason that it is important that Switzerland contributes and protects its airspace with its own means, she adds.
The Federal Councilor believes that if the war spread to western Ukraine, “the situation would change considerably”, because Russia would attack a NATO member. “We would then be close to a world war. But even in such a case, I consider the use of nuclear weapons to be unlikely,” she continues.
Ms. Amherd says she is convinced that the war will lead to a remilitarization of Europe. “Russia has already rearmed.” In European NATO countries, she adds, the discussion regarding increased arms spending has been going on for some time now.
The war in Ukraine will lead to a greater awareness of the fact that states must be able to defend themselves militarily once morest an attack, notes the centrist from Valais.
