Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister said in Berlin on Monday that "Switzerland wants and is ready to take responsibility for its own security, while also meeting the expectations of other European countries that it should contribute to the security of the continent. We want to live up to that responsibility as a reliable partner."
He was speaking at a meeting of the DACH countries – Germany, Austria and Switzerland – a grouping linked by close economic and cultural ties. Countries that have traditionally spent relatively little on defence have shifted course in recent years following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Among them is traditionally neutral Switzerland, which is neither a member of the European Union nor of NATO.
