Are the Swiss Still Neutral?
I have been asked to write a few lines about an incident that took place last week at the frontier between Switzerland and Liechtenstein: A company of Swiss soldiers, during a routine training exercise, inadvertently crossed the unguarded border to its defenseless neighbor Liechtenstein. The New York Times reported on this occurrence [article].
While both countries concerned did not make a big deal out of the event, a member of the legal community [Opinio Juris on March 2, 2007] "was appalled to learn of Switzerland's recent invasion of Liechtenstein" and stresses that "the responsible individuals are punished appropriately".
Personally, I would like to invoke my neutrality acquired through marriage. Yet, maybe my husband Flavio who is Swiss would like to comment on this matter ... provided he does not choose to invoke his right to remain silent ...
Of course, comments by others are also very welcome.
1 comment:
Well, here I am. Indeed, I get asked many questions about this recent invasion. General tone: "Don't they have GPS in Switzerland?" or here my favorite "Was this a self-reported invasion or not?". Unfortunately, I am quite unable to answer all these questions since the Swiss Army has never let me serve in their ranks.
On a more serious side, as you might know, Switzerland has what I think is called here in the US a general draft, meaning that every male citizen has to serve in the army. However, after we realized (with quite some delay) that the Russians were most likely not to invade our country, a politically feasible way to reduce the number of soldiers was required. The solution: more than 40% of all male citizens of age 18 are considered medically unfit to serve (data from 2005 as reported in the NZZ). This way, the numbers are reduced but we can hold on to political credo of a general draft. Well, I am part of this 40% percent, and it seems that spatial orientation deficits might soon be another reason for an early medical discharge.
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