Switzerland is the model for permanent neutrality since 1815; however, the international legal order has changed significantly since the Treaty of Paris. The adoption of the UN Charter and the general ban on the use of force, the emergence of international organizations, the security challenges in the 21^st century all seem to put pressure on neutral states in general. Switzerland is an example of neutrality still playing a role in the 21^st century and it applies a flexible interpretation of the law of neutrality to be able to adapt to the challenges of the 21^st century.

Switzerland is known for its neutrality and its role in the development of international humanitarian law through the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is also reflected in its flag. For this reputation to emerge, Switzerland first had to take up a permanently neutral legal status.

Switzerland became permanently neutral according to international law through the Treaty of Paris, adopted in the margins of the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It became the first modern permanently neutral state confirmed by international law, an a model for other neutral states, like Austria, Malta, or the Republic of Moldova today. The 19^th century was the golden era of neutrality, many neutral countries emerged during this time. Permanent neutrality means that the state assumes the duty of abstaining from any international armed conflict in the future, applying the corpus of the law of neutrality (most importantly, the Hague Conventions of 1907 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949) from the outbreak of the hostilities between the belligerent parties until the end of the international armed conflict.

Neutrality underwent significant changes since the 19^th century. The adoption of the UN Charter, armed conflicts of the 21^st century, relationship to other international organizations, the adoption of sanctions and the emergence of the concept of qualified neutrality bring up many questions regarding the obligations of neutrals.

Switzerland answers to these changes by adaptation, keeping its neutral status, but also interpreting its obligations and the law of neutrality in a flexible manner that allows for adaptation to the challenges of the 21^st century.

The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Federation mentions neutrality in its Article 173 and Article 183, but not as a declaration (as it is the case usually with permanently neutral states, like Article 1 (3) of the constitution of Malta), but as an obligation for the federal state organs addressed to safeguard the neutral status of Switzerland.

There is an ongoing debate regarding incorporating a declaration of permanent neutrality into the federal constitution. A civil society organization, Pro Schweiz has led a campaign to initiate a referendum regarding a federal constitutional amendment declaring the permanent neutrality of Switzerland, stating that Switzerland may not join any military defence organization, abstains from international armed conflicts and from non-military coercive measures against one or more of the belligerents. It does explicitly reflect on keeping obligations under the UN Charter and stemming from the UN membership and keeping sanctions regulations adopted by it. It also references a positive neutrality task for Switzerland, to try to further the cause of preventing or aiding the parties with solving international armed conflicts.

So far, the campaign was not successful at reaching its goal and there was no referendum organized on this matter. It reached the necessary threshold to initiate a referendum with 129 806 signatures on the 11^th of April, but the federal parliament did not support the initiative during a vote. The situation might change in the future; there is a possibility of organizing a referendum on the issue later. Still, it shows what the most important questions are currently within Switzerland. The argument of the Federal Council regarding the text was that the adoption of the amendment would lead to a change to Swiss neutrality, having a negative effect on the security, economic and foreign policy of Switzerland.

Switzerland adapted to the realities through the centuries, interpreting neutrality in a flexible manner. It did join the League of Nations in 1920 with some restrictions, but it did not join the UN until 2002, when a second referendum finally approved its accession to the universal international organization by 54,6% of the votes.

Switzerland may and in some cases must apply sanctions imposed by the UN, the OSCE and joined all sanctions adopted by the EU against Russia. It refuses, however, to transfer war material to Ukraine with regards to the aggression of Russia against Ukraine in 2022, considering that it may not be in line with obligations stemming from permanent neutrality.

The Federal Council started negotiations with the EU in 2025 to facilitate security and defence partnership opportunities between Switzerland and the EU. The Swiss parliament decided to lower regulatory burdens regarding exporting war material to some of the NATO member states. The Swiss federal government also signed a joint declaration strengthening the cooperation of Switzerland and the EU in foreign and security policy in 2026. Negotiations were conducted and successfully concluded to adopt a Swiss-EU bilateral agreement, regulating many fields of cooperation horizontally between the EU and Switzerland comprehensively (migration, energy, traffic, agriculture, etc.), and the text awaits final adoption.

Assessing the neutrality policy of Switzerland, one can conclude that neutrality is still relevant in the 21^st century. Switzerland adapts to the security realities of the 21^st century by responding to the challenges and applying a flexible interpretation of the law of neutrality and permanent neutral status. Switzerland considers that obligations stemming from UN membership are in line with neutrality, it builds closer connections with the EU and adopts sanctions against aggressor states together with its international partners. However, it does not consider the transfer of armed material to the victim state of aggression in line with the policy of neutrality, looks for other ways to act against the aggressor and support the victim and strives for helping to end international armed conflicts through diplomacy in line with positive neutrality.

Árpád Lapu is an assistant research fellow at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. He was a policy adviser on constitutional issues at the European Parliament between 2019-2024. He worked as an adviser at the Ministry of Justice of Hungary (2017-2019) and the Ministry of European Union Affairs (2024-2026), conducting EU law, international law and comparative constitutional analyses. He has earned his JD at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Hungary, has a BA in international relations from the University of Szeged, and an MA in European and international administration from Andrássy Gyula German Speaking University in Budapest. He has completed an LLM in international law at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain).