Swiss Parliament says no to extra funds for air defence munitions

Both houses of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland rejected a request for an additional $1.27 billion to purchase anti-aircraft ammunition for the Swiss Armed Forces, as reported by Blick.

The Swiss Parliament's security committee included additional funding in a $1.884 billion request intended to cover already planned weapons procurement projects.

The Swiss government intended to allocate the funds for purchasing additional ammunition for air defence systems.

The Parliament's lower house, the National Council, rejected the proposal back in June, and on September 17, the Council of States also voted against it. Only 13 members of the chamber supported the additional funding, while 30 opposed it.

The arguments of those opposing the funding boiled down to the fact that additional funds to meet the request are not yet available.

Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister acknowledged this during the debate, although he did say that anti-aircraft munitions play an important role in strengthening the country's air defences.

By Khagan Isayev