Almost nine out of 10 Swiss citizens say they supported their country’s neutral stance.
In the latest annual Swiss Security Study published on June 17, 87 per cent of respondents said they backed Switzerland’s neutrality.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine it was 97 per cent. Around half of the 2,091 respondents favoured a “differentiated neutrality” in which the country would take a stand politically but refrain from joining any military efforts abroad.
Some 58 per cent of respondents believed that neutrality helped their country avoid being drawn into global conflicts. A slim majority of 53 per cent, though, doubted Switzerland’s ability to realistically defend its neutrality with military means if necessary.
The Security Study has been conducted annually since the 1990s by the Swiss military academy and the Zurich University of Technology (ETH).
The latest results were based on interviews held in January 2025 and aimed to paint a picture of the Swiss population’s views on various security and defence matters.
The report showed that the public sense of security had eroded in Switzerland as well – as in Germany and other Western European countries.
While 86 per cent of Swiss said the felt “very safe” or “rather safe”, that was still a drop of 6 percentage points compared to 2024 and far below the average of previous years.
The Swiss have also become less optimistic, with only 69 per cent seeing their country’s future as favourable, a fall of 10 percentage points on 2024.
As regards the global security situation the outlook is highly negative, with 81 per cent of respondents expressing pessimism.
In light of current world affairs, the Swiss were increasingly in favour of international co-operation with 53 per cent favouring a closer relationship with NATO.
Less than a third of respondents, though, were in favour of joining the security alliance.
Some 79 per cent of Swiss citizens supported closer economic co-operation with the European Union – without joining the bloc.
The Swiss army was still held in high esteem by the public, with 80 per cent of respondents saying the army is “absolutely necessary” or “rather necessary”, although that did mark a fall of 2 percentage points on last year.
Despite their reputation for thrift, 24 per cent of the Swiss backed increased defence spending – a record high since that question was first asked in the survey in 1986.
