Since the end of the Cold War Switzerland has had to redefine its understanding of neutrality. [33], Swiss neutrality has been questioned at times, notably regarding Switzerland's role during World War II and later during Operation Gladio, its support for the apartheid regime in South Africa and more recently in the Crypto AG espionage case, amongst other cases.[34][35][36][37][38]. Robert Grimm, a Swiss socialist politician, visited Russia in an attempt to negotiate a separate peace agreement between Russia and Germany, in order to end the war on the Eastern Front in the interests of socialism. At one point, Switzerland mobilized 850,000 soldiers. [9](p245) During the Restoration, the Swiss Confederation's constitution and the Treaty of Paris's Act on the Neutrality of Switzerland affirmed Swiss neutrality. Graphics on the economy, energy, transit, transport, media consumption and social security in Switzerland. [28], Switzerland participated in the development of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC), intended as an oversight mechanism of private security providers. A publication by Paul Schweizer, titled Geschichte der schweizerischen Neutralität attempted to show that Swiss neutrality wasn't granted by other nations, but a decision they took themselves and thus couldn't be rescinded by others. It also depended on German coal, with 10 million tons imported during the war, making up 41% of Swiss energy supplies. [16] However, the country was forced to adopt the so-called "differential neutrality", which required Switzerland to participate in economic sanctions while preserving its military neutrality, a policy initially welcomed to establish the Swiss solidarity with international efforts to promote a peaceful world order. It subsequently took part in economic sanctions against Iraq during the first Gulf War in 1991, while in 1996 it joined Nato’s Partnership for Peace programme, and in 1999 sent unarmed volunteers to support peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo. It took particular toughness to be a tiny neutral country in the midst of a world war, as TIME pointed out in 1942, when Germany occupied France, making Switzerland “an isolated little democratic anomaly deep inside totalitarian Europe.”, Like a Chihuahua defending its territory against a pit bull, Switzerland only grew more ferocious in the face of an outsized menace. Winston Churchill, letter to Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in 1944[19], From 1943 Switzerland stopped American and British aircraft, mainly bombers, overflying Switzerland during the Second World War. Conquering the small nation would not have been an easy feat. Its official stance of non-involvement had been decided during The Congress of Vienna in 1815, in which major European leaders met to discuss the … The neutral state gave safe haven to 10,000 Hungarian refugees, and leveraged what power it had to penalize the Russians — by not letting them ski. As a neutral state, Switzerland does not take part in external armed conflicts, provides no armed assistance, and is not a member of any military alliances. The world’s longest railway tunnel – the Gotthard Base Tunnel – was officially opened on 1 June 2016. This sparked internal tensions; however, the country was able to maintain its neutrality.[13]. Switzerland is the longest standing neutral nation in the world and has not taken part in a war since 1505. Opponents of the project such as former ambassador Paul Widmer consider that this seat would "put its [Switzerland] neutrality at risk". “Man for man, Switzerland probably has the second best army in Europe today,” it concluded. This policy is self-imposed, permanent, and armed, designed to ensure external security and promote peace. [25], The Swiss, although somewhat skeptical, reacted by treating these violations of their neutrality as "accidents". The German-speaking majority in Switzerland generally favoured the Central Powers whilst the French-speaking and Italian-speaking populations favoured the Allied Powers. Solar Impulse has brought the dream of flying over long distances without the need for fossil fuel a step closer to reality. Its Energy Strategy 2050 seeks to reduce consumption and increase the share of renewables. Its reputation as a safe haven for the persecuted (save its dismal record with Jewish refugees during World War II) is so well known that at this time last year, an Ethiopian pilot hijacked his own Rome-bound flight and landed instead in Geneva, where he requested asylum to escape persecution in his home country.

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