Overview
- Swiss voters rejected the proposal by roughly 70 percent on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, with a majority voting no in all 26 cantons.
- The initiative would have written a strict “perpetual and armed” neutrality into the constitution and barred peacetime cooperation with military alliances while allowing sanctions only if approved by the U.N. Security Council.
- The measure was backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party and the Pro Switzerland group and was praised by Moscow, while nearly all major parties, the federal government, and parliament urged voters to reject it.
- Turnout was moderate at about 46 percent and voters also rejected a separate proposal to raise food self-sufficiency to 70 percent, which received roughly 24 percent support.
- The result preserves Bern’s flexibility to mirror EU sanctions and to train with NATO partners and sets the stage for a November ballot on arms-export rules that could further shape Switzerland’s security ties and defence industry.