Switzerland has continued to move away from its traditional neutrality, as it has joined the NATO’s Patriot Support Partnership. The country’s official goal is to strengthen its national security and ensure better spare part supplies for its Patriot air defense systems.
The Patriot systems are part of the controversial Air 2030 military program, which allows Switzerland to become more militarily integrated with Western structures. The NSPA, or NATO Support and Procurement Agency, is a central organization for procurement and logistics, which means that Switzerland is essentially becoming more dependent on NATO.
While Swiss companies can now participate in tenders through the partnership, this could potentially create long-term economic dependencies.
The question remains as to how this cooperation aligns with Switzerland’s traditional stance of neutrality. Although the possibility of withdrawing from a conflict exists, in practice, Switzerland is increasingly being integrated into Western defense structures.
This is not the first step in this direction, as similar agreements have been made for AMRAAM and Stinger systems in the past. The gradual rapprochement with NATO shows that Switzerland is, in practice, less neutral and is adapting its defense policy to Western military strategies.