Swiss Parliament Approves Joining the European Air Defense Initiative "Sky Shield"
Kyiv • UNN
Switzerland has approved to join the European joint air defense project "Sky Shield" in order to better coordinate the procurement, training and logistics of ground-based air defense systems with European partners.
At its meeting on April 10, the Federal Council of Neutral Switzerland approved a declaration of accession to the European Joint Air Defense Project "Sky Shield" (ESSI). This was reported by NZZ, according to UNN.
Details
It is noted that the focus of cooperation is on better coordination of procurement, training and logistical aspects in the field of ground-based air defense.
ESSI is the German initiative for ground-based air defense (Bodluv) in Europe. The initiative was launched in August 2022 and is based on the need to strengthen air defense in Europe and better combine efforts. Eleven states have now signed a declaration of accession to the Memorandum of Understanding.
Even after signing the declaration of accession, Switzerland is free to decide where and to what extent it participates in ESSI and which BODLUV systems it purchases.
Joining ESSI is not a preliminary decision in favor of a particular system. Signing a declaration of accession to the Memorandum does not create any obligations, the Federal Council explained.
Recall
Switzerland plans to abandon neutrality and cooperate with NATO allies in the event of Russian aggression to ensure its defense, suspending neutrality and organizing joint defense with partners in the event of an attack.
