The Swiss in Atalanta: it's slow…
(B2) The Swiss hurry very slowly! The agreement for Swiss participation in the EU's anti-piracy operation "Atalanta" could not take place before the autumn. And yet... At least that's the feeling more and more shared in Bern.
At the end of April, Parliament had already warned: "since the message from the Federal Council and the draft federal decrees have not been transmitted to Parliament, the committees are no longer in a position to carry out the preliminary examination of this subject for the summer 2009 session of the Federal Chambers; Parliament will therefore not be able to make its decision before the autumn 2009 session"Clear. The document was finally transmitted on May 20, according to my information. But it is not really certain that Parliament is positive during the debate.
On the side of the political parties, it is not, in fact, the Folichon enthusiasm, according to my Swiss colleagues. It's the least we can say... A preliminary hearing, held in mid-May, showed this. Of course, expecting the UDC to defend the project would have been illusory. This party rejects on principle, in the name of neutrality, that Swiss soldiers defend foreign persons or property. But the Christian Democrats shunned the hearings, considering that the time granted to each party (about 5 minutes) was not enough. Even the socialists and the liberal democrats are not, perfectly positive, they support the engagement of Swiss soldiers "only to defend World Food Program ships or Swiss ships". But they are opposed to any modification of the law of engagement of the Swiss army. We remember that the Swiss government (the Federal Council) did indeed attempt a double attempt: to authorize the sending of 30 Swiss soldiers for the Atalanta mission and to modify the military law, allowing Switzerland to participate in EU police missions. For example. It is especially this last element which arouses a very clear opposition. But who thus risks "polluting" the authorization required from the Swiss parliament for the first element: the Atalanta mission...
(NGV)
(Photo credit: Swiss Parliament)
