The Swiss “Security Policy Strategy 2026” – in conflict with neutrality and freedom of expression

On 12 December 2025, unnoticed by many citizens, the Federal Council submitted its “Security Policy Strategy of Switzerland 2026” draft for consultation (until 31 March 2026). The draft comprises 60 easily understandable pages – essential reading for every citizen.¹

According to Article 185, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Federal Constitution, it is the responsibility of the Federal Council to take measures to safeguard Switzerland’s external and internal security. Some of the objectives of the present strategy are therefore necessary and sensible. These include, for example, strengthening national supply, expanding domestic energy supply, increasing cyber security, ensuring effective civil protection and, of course, restoring a defence-capable army.

The construct of the Russian threat as a ticket to NATO membership

However, what should keep every Swiss citizen awake at night is the Federal Council’s plan to integrate our nation closely into the EU and NATO military alliances. The entire document is permeated by the notion of a supposed Russian threat – hammered home to the reader at least a dozen times – even though, interestingly, the DDPS explicitly admits that a Russian attack on Switzerland is “unlikely” (see Strategy, p. 10). But the ominous Russian threat certainly serves as a hook for the Federal Council’s pursuit of NATO membership² since the End of the Cold War.
    There is a lack of historical foundation in the Federal Council. The lessons learned from the two world wars, when Switzerland, surrounded by the Axis powers, was able to survive as a sovereign state precisely because it adhered to its neutrality as closely as possible and did not join any of the warring powers, are being completely ignored. Are we to abandon this fundamental framework of a neutral and sovereign Switzerland just because a few people in the federal government in Bern want to curry favour with the powerful of this world?
    In an interview with National Councillor Lukas Reimann, the most blatant violations of neutrality in the Federal Council’s strategy are brought to light.

Unconstitutional attack on freedom of expression

Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation
    Art. 16 Freedom of expression and information

1. Freedom of expression and of information is guaranteed.
2. Every person has the right freely to form, express, and impart their opinions.
3. Every person has the right freely to receive information, to gather it from generally accessible sources, and to disseminate it.

Under the label “Combating influence activities and disinformation”, the Federal Council wants to “strengthen” the population’s “resilience” to influence. (Note: The misuse of the term resilience, which originates from psychology, distorts its original meaning, namely a person’s mental resilience despite difficult emotional experiences in life.) To this end, the Federal Council wants to set up an “interdepartmental working group” to steer public opinion and monitor the expression of opinions through “preventive and reactive measures”. This includes interfering with academic freedom and cantonal school sovereignty: “The federal government reviews existing curricula for content and initiatives that are relevant to the challenges of disinformation in connection with political education.” (Strategy, pp. 35/36)
    Abolition of the fundamental right to freedom of expression, following the example of the EU? Warning examples include the brutal and unconstitutional methods used against Jacques Baud and Nathalie Yamb, as well as the report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Irene Khan, on the disgraceful state of freedom of expression in our neighbouring country, Germany. •

¹The Security Policy Strategy for Switzerland 2026. Draft for consultation of 12 December 2025 (cited as: Strategy)

² See the list of Federal Council security policy reports since the 1993 Neutrality Report on pages 13/14 of the Strategy.