# Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a referendum which proposed maintaining neutrality, lifting anti-Russian sanctions, and prohibiting membership in NATO. About 70-percent voted against tightening the country’s neutrality rules. The right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party, which championed the proposal, claimed the government had gravitated too close to the European Union and NATO, particularly over Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Swiss government opposed the measure, arguing that if it were approved, the country would cease to be a reliable partner in international security policy.
Swiss voters overwhelmingly reject proposal to tighten the country’s neutrality rules