{"text":[[{"start":9.2,"text":"Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to impose strict new limits on the country’s centuries-old neutrality, deciding in a referendum to maintain their existing approach to sanctions and security co-operation with other European countries."}],[{"start":23.799999999999997,"text":"The initiative, conceived by Christoph Blocher, a rightwing billionaire and former government minister, would have enshrined “perpetual and armed” neutrality in the constitution and restricted the government’s freedom to decide what neutrality means in practice. "}],[{"start":38.3,"text":"Blocher and Pro Schweiz, a sovereigntist group opposed to closer ties with the EU, collected enough signatures to force a national referendum. But the rightwing populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which opposed joining the EU’s sanctions on Russia, was the only big political party to support the proposal."}],[{"start":57.449999999999996,"text":"The initiative was decisively rejected, with 68.4 per cent of voters casting ballots against it as of Sunday afternoon, with 31.6 per cent in favour. It failed to win a majority in any of Switzerland’s 26 cantons. Turnout was 46.5 per cent."}],[{"start":74.14999999999999,"text":"Switzerland would have been barred from co-operating with military alliances unless it faced an attack or one was being prepared, and would be prevented from imposing sanctions unless they were approved by the UN."}],[{"start":86.44999999999999,"text":"The result leaves Switzerland with room to adapt its neutrality policy as Europe confronts a more uncertain security environment. "}],[{"start":93.99999999999999,"text":"But the campaign revived a much older argument over what Swiss neutrality actually means — and the considerable flexibility with which the country has historically applied it."}],[{"start":103.79999999999998,"text":"Neutrality developed over centuries as a pragmatic means of protecting a small confederation divided by language and religion from the wars of its larger neighbours. It also helped insulate those internal divisions from conflicts beyond Switzerland’s borders."}],[{"start":119.49999999999999,"text":"The policy ensured Switzerland remained neutral during world wars. But its conduct — particularly during the second world war — undermined the idea that Swiss neutrality was ever absolute."}],[{"start":131.79999999999998,"text":"Successive governments have instead interpreted the policy according to circumstance. Switzerland remains outside Nato and the EU, but has joined Nato’s Partnership for Peace, participated in international peacekeeping and imposed sanctions on other countries."}],[{"start":148.7,"text":"That room for manoeuvre was at the heart of Sunday’s vote. The government argued that imposing a stricter constitutional definition would remove the flexibility that has allowed Switzerland to adapt to circumstances."}],[{"start":161.75,"text":"The tensions came to a head after Russia’s invasion in 2022. Switzerland’s decision to largely adopt EU sanctions against Moscow was controversial domestically and prompted Blocher’s campaign. Critics argued that Bern had compromised its neutrality. "}],[{"start":177.3,"text":"For many in Switzerland’s internationally exposed business community, however, following western sanctions was pragmatic given the country’s dependence on European markets and a global financial system dominated by the US dollar."}],[{"start":191.05,"text":"The argument has become more consequential as European security has deteriorated. Bern has sought closer co-operation with its neighbours on air defence, cyber security and military interoperability — precisely the sort of flexibility that could have been constrained by the initiative."}],[{"start":208.70000000000002,"text":"Markus Mäder, Switzerland’s state secretary for security policy, told the FT this year that the country regarded itself as “an integral part of European security”."}],[{"start":219.4,"text":"The Swiss population has “firmly rejected isolation and remains committed to European co-operation”, said Beat Wittmann, chair of Swiss corporate advisory group Porta Advisors. "}],[{"start":236.45,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790558967_4211.mp3"}