"Unanimously and with one abstention, the Committee of the Council of Cantons [Senate] on security Policy (CPS-E) recommends to its council to reject the proposal of the National Council, which wants to instruct the Federal Council to adapt the relevant legal framework so that joint defensive exercises with NATO simulating collective defense in accordance with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty were prohibited," the document read.
The senators believe that such a proposal is contrary to the interests of Swiss security policy, since participation in defensive exercises with NATO "is not aimed at Switzerland's participation in the case of collective defense, but at strengthening the defense capability of the army."
Such cooperation does not contradict the neutrality of the country and should even be expanded, the lawmakers said.