97
votes
Why did Switzerland de facto abandon their neutrality?
If they wanted to remain 100% neutral.
They don't.
They make it quite clear in your linked press release that they do not consider this to be a symmetric conflict in which both sides are equally ...
- 115k
64
votes
Why did Switzerland de facto abandon their neutrality?
First, the Swiss government differentiates between neutrality and impartiality (March 2022 white paper):
Neutrality is a behaviour in an international armed conflict, not a stance on specific issues. ...
31
votes
Accepted
Why hasn't Austria joined NATO?
Short answer: it is not allowed to join NATO.
By the end of WW2 Austria and Germany were occupied by the Allies. In 1955 Austria signed a treaty with the Allies, which - in essence - ended Allied ...
- 2,824
24
votes
Has Ukraine ever considered being neutral after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Ukraine not only considered to be neutral. Ukraine is still officially neutral and not a member of NATO. This is exactly why Ukraine was invaded by Russia in 2014-15, with the war continued up to the ...
- 10.4k
18
votes
Accepted
Has Ukraine ever considered being neutral after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Sort of - directly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's declaration of independence in August 1991, the Verkhovna Rada approved the law "On the defence of Ukraine" in ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
12
votes
Can great powers stay neutral in large conflicts?
Sure they can. We're seeing it live - China has taken no sides in the Russia-Ukraine war. I know some people will say China "supports" Russia, but note that:
China didn't vote against or ...
- 32.4k
11
votes
Which countries in the world remain neutral in the Ukraine conflict?
We could infer the stance of various countries by how they voted on the UN resolution from March 2nd 2022 to condemn the aggression against Ukraine.
These countries voted against the resolution, ...
- 74.8k
11
votes
Has Ukraine ever considered being neutral after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine held about one third of the Soviet nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world at the time, as well as significant means of its design and ...
- 3,875
10
votes
Would Finland's joining NATO be a violation of the 1947 Treaty of Paris?
I'm still looking for something more detailed, but more specifically, (according to two different sources 1 2) in the 1990s Finland has already unilaterally denounced part III (art. 13-22) of the 1947 ...
- 145k
8
votes
What is the difference between non-alignment and neutrality?
Have look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement.
Non-alignment was a Cold War thing, mostly, while neutrality is a very very old concept, with countries refusing to either take sides ...
8
votes
Why hasn't Austria joined NATO?
A philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" may apply here. Austria has enjoyed more than 60 years of stability and prosperity while remaining neutral; so there are no obvious benefits to giving ...
- 11.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Why did four EU countries break the EU consensus over the US embassy in Jerusalem?
The Austrian ministry for foreign affairs stated, that the participation was out of courtesy, and does not imply any change in Austria's official position.
Source: Article in Austrian newspaper "Die ...
- 2,824
7
votes
Accepted
(When) did Switzerland tighten its neutrality law provisions regarding armaments and ammo post WW2?
The first change in Swiss law on arms exports came via a Federal Council decree of March 28th 1949. This decree doesn't appear to be available digitally, but is described by Sabine Widmer as follows:
...
CDJB♦
- 105k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the Austrian/Swiss rationale for maintaining weapons supply neutrality amidst Russian invasion?
Switzerland has a long tradition with a relatively strict interpretation of neutrality. The international community benefits from having Switzerland as a potential meeting place, with offices in ...
- 106k
6
votes
What is the Austrian/Swiss rationale for maintaining weapons supply neutrality amidst Russian invasion?
Neutrality is not an on/off switch: there can be various grades/shades of grey of it. Condemning Russia is not inconsistent with not helping to fight it.
Compare it with an ordinary citizen having ...
- 1,506
3
votes
Would Finland's joining NATO be a violation of the 1947 Treaty of Paris?
It seems that Finland unilaterally renounced part of that treaty in the 1990s when the Soviet Union dissolved. And considering that the Ukrainian SSR was signatory, while the Russian SFSR wasn't, who ...
- 106k
3
votes
Agreement for de-militarization of Ukraine, good or bad?
There're a few problems with your question. Let's examine:
On the on hand, [demilitarization is] the conditions that Putin has demanded since 2015
This isn't correct. Putin demanded Minsk II be ...
- 32.4k
3
votes
Agreement for de-militarization of Ukraine, good or bad?
De-Militarization of Ukraine would just make it easier for the Russian military to take over the country as they would have even less to oppose them then they currently have. At this point I don't see ...
- 15.4k
2
votes
What is the Austrian/Swiss rationale for maintaining weapons supply neutrality amidst Russian invasion?
So what is the rationale for maintaining this policy? Doesn't it have any internal opposition to being hypocritical?
Of course it has opposition - both Austria and Switzerland are democracies, after ...
- 861
2
votes
Accepted
Why did Switzerland de facto abandon their neutrality?
Have the Swiss abandoned neutrality?
To answer this question, we must understand what Swiss neutrality means. A first important distinction is between neutrality as a matter of international law, and ...
- 3,875
2
votes
Swiss military neutrality and the three roles for the military
Swiss military officially does not participate in active combat missions on foreign soil. See below. Emphasis in bold added by myself. Deciding if any of the logistic support below is to be rated as ...
- 13k
1
vote
Would Finland's joining NATO be a violation of the 1947 Treaty of Paris?
No
The treaty does not say anything about joining defensive military organizations.
As long as the country is not under direct attack, Nato does not need to bring a single soldier in, so why anything ...
- 16.5k
1
vote
Has Ukraine explained how their proposed resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war would work if their referendum fails?
Simple, it will not.
The condition of the referendum prevents including items into the peace agreement with that most of Ukrainian citizens would very likely disagree. It is the pressure on Russia not ...
- 16.5k
1
vote
What is the difference between non-alignment and neutrality?
Neutrality feels more like a 19th century concept to me. You had the Concert of Europe, also known as concert of Vienna, with multiple great and not so great powers involved in the Great Game. And a ...
- 106k
1
vote
Why hasn't Austria joined NATO?
Because Austria's constitution says it is a neutral country in military terms.
However - that neutrality is only existing on paper if one takes a closer look. Firstly, Austria is part of the EU which ...
- 761
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible