Switzerland ruled on Friday that shipping weapons with Swiss-made components to Ukraine does not violate the country’s centuries-old neutrality, if certain conditions are met.
“The delivery of war material in the form of assembly elements or spare parts to European armament companies will… remain possible, even if the manufactured war material is likely to be sent to Ukraine,” the Swiss government said.
Officials further clarified that the re-export of weapons is permitted if the share of Swiss-made elements in the final product is below a certain threshold, such as 50% for countries such as Italy and Germany.
The re-export of fully Swiss-made arms and ammunition would still violate the country’s neutrality, however.
Switzerland recently rejected Denmark’s request to provide Ukraine with 22 Swiss-made Piranha III armored infantry fighting vehicles, as well as Germany’s request to give Kiev 12,400 rounds of the Swiss-made ammunition used in Gepard anti-aircraft tanks.