2023-05-21 14:00:49
Re-export of war material
Director of Ruag “stabs the Federal Council in the back”
The director of the company called on states such as Germany and Spain to ignore the Confederation’s veto on the re-export of war material. Guy Parmelin did not appreciate.
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AFP
It is not often that the heads of companies linked to the Confederation publicly question the policy of the Federal Council. However, this is exactly what Brigitte Beck, the managing director of the arms company Ruag, did, reports the “NZZ am Sonntag”. Germany, Denmark and Spain have wanted to deliver Swiss-made arms and ammunition to Ukraine for months. But Bern refuses, citing neutrality and the recently strengthened War Materials Act. At a conference, Brigitte Beck called on these states to ignore the Confederacy’s veto. “Germany or Spain: Deliver this material to Ukraine. What would we do anyway? Nothing,” she said.
Calls for resignation
This intervention was not at all well received by the Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research (DEFR) of Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin, responsible for issuing re-export permits. The UDC minister made this clear at his party’s parliamentary group meeting a week ago. This is all the more delicate since Ruag’s one and only shareholder… the Confederation.
Representatives of the SVP have called for the resignation of Brigitte Beck. “Anyone who stabs the Federal Council in the back can no longer keep their place,” hammered National Councilor Thomas Hurter (UDC / SH). According to well-informed sources, the Federal Council has already discussed the subject. He is now awaiting the results of an internal Ruag investigation that the company’s board has promised.
Parliament is called upon to vote again on the law which blocks the re-export of war material to Ukraine. A committee of the Council of States supported a new proposal in this sense a week ago.
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