Swiss voters have decisively rejected a proposal to impose stricter constitutional limits on the country's longstanding neutrality, final results from the Federal Statistical Office showed.
About 70 percent of voters opposed the initiative, and all cantons rejected it.
The proposal sought to enshrine "perpetual and armed neutrality" in the Swiss constitution. It would have barred Switzerland from joining or cooperating with military alliances and from imposing sanctions on warring states unless approved by the United Nations Security Council.
The initiative was organised by Pro Switzerland, a group that campaigns for national sovereignty, and was backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), Switzerland's largest party.
The outcome preserves the government's ability to impose sanctions and cooperate with NATO. Although not a NATO member, Switzerland has cooperated with the transatlantic alliance for 30 years.
The debate over neutrality sharpened after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Switzerland largely adopted EU sanctions against Moscow, prompting criticism from Russia and from supporters of stricter neutrality, who argued the government was taking sides.
Switzerland has been internationally recognised as neutral since 1815, a status formally confirmed after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Neutrality has formed part of its federal constitutional framework since 1848.
The vote centred less on whether Switzerland should remain neutral than on how much freedom its government should retain in applying that principle as Europe's security environment changes.
The SVP's billionaire backer, Christoph Blocher, was a prominent supporter of the initiative and was reported to have spent 2 million francs (approximately 2.1 million euros) on the campaign.
Russia's foreign ministry had praised the initiative while criticising Switzerland's adoption of EU sanctions, claiming the country was abandoning its neutrality.
The Swiss government, parliament, and nearly all major parties opposed the proposal, arguing that adopting it would leave Switzerland less secure and would heavily restrict its ability to cooperate with NATO.
Opponents welcomed the result. "Voters understood what the SVP wanted: it wanted Switzerland to isolate itself internationally and shirk its responsibilities when international law is being trampled on," said Sibel Arslan, a lawmaker for the Green party.
Analysts said the result showed Swiss voters were content with the government's interpretation of neutrality. "The people have spoken: they accept that neutrality is an instrument that can evolve, leaving the government with room for manoeuvre to adapt its application faced with geopolitical upheavals," wrote Katy Romy, a correspondent for SwissInfo, the online service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.
Romy also noted that the campaign in favour of the initiative had been unable to shed perceptions that it was acting in Russian interests.
The SVP accepted the defeat and said it currently had no plans for further action.
