This week, Viola Amherd, Switzerland’s army and defence minister, announced her resignation from the Federal Council, effective at the end of March 2025. The 62-year-old politician from the Centre Party has been a Federal Councillor since 2019. Amherd’s decision follows a demand from the leadership of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) that she step down.
According to the UDC/SVP, Amherd had put Switzerland’s freedom, neutrality and external and internal security at risk. The party claimed that she would prefer to deal with gender issues in the army than with military equipment, reported SRF.
Parliamentary members from the Centre Party responded by accusing the UDC/SVP of running the army into the ground in previous decades while it was under their leadership.
The extent to which the attack from the UDC/SVP led to Amnerd’s resignation is unclear. In any case her unexpected resignation surprised many.
The task of being the minister in charge of the military is currently an unenviable one. Parties on the left typically push for less to be spent on the military, while those on the right, the UDC/SVP in particular, push for more money to support defence. The degrading security situation in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further raised the political temperature on this tension.
Given the current politics surrounding Switzerland’s military, including a recent survey that revealed a widespread culture of discrimination and abuse within the organisation, it is easy to find reasons why one would choose not to be in charge of it.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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