The Swiss government announced on Friday that it had banned the supply of military equipment to a Polish company after it was revealed that around 645,000 Swiss-made rounds had ended up in Ukraine, in violation of Swiss law. TASR writes about it according to AP and PAP agencies.
The Swiss authorities started an investigation after the American portal Defense One indicated in its report last November that Ukraine had received cartridges manufactured by the Swiss company SwissP Defense through the Polish company UMO.
According to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), an investigation revealed that a Swiss manufacturer and a Polish company had signed a resale agreement, in accordance with which a Polish company authorized to resell ammunition only on the territory of Poland.
Bern thus came to the conclusion that the Polish company did not comply with its contractual obligations towards the Swiss manufacturer, whose ammunition ended up in Ukraine. SECO said that supplies of military equipment to the mentioned Polish company will now be prohibited, as the risk of their re-export to Ukraine is too high.
Switzerland has long emphasized its neutrality, in accordance with which its laws prohibit the export of military equipment to countries in which armed conflicts are taking place. However, as AP reminds, also Bern joined the wide-ranging economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
