"Military Mobility" EU states approve Switzerland's participation in EU military project

The member states of the EU approved Switzerland's participation in a European defense project on Monday. An administrative agreement is still required for Switzerland to become a member of the "Military Mobility" project.

Keystone-SDA

13.01.2025, 22:20

SDA

Switzerland meets the conditions and will bring "significant" added value to the project, as the Council of the European Union announced on Monday evening. Switzerland submitted an application to participate in September.

As a next step, the Netherlands, which is chairing the project, will formally invite Switzerland to join the project, the statement added. Switzerland would then have to enter into an agreement in order to become a full member.

The "Military Mobility" project aims to simplify military mobility on European territory. In future, applications for cross-border transportation can be processed and approved within a few days.

In addition to 26 EU member states - all except Malta - Canada, Norway and the USA are also taking part in the project. However, the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is still in the negotiation process.

Federal Council wants to participate in two projects

Last August, the Federal Council approved Switzerland's participation in two projects of the EU Defense Initiative for Permanent Structured Cooperation (Pesco). In addition to "Military Mobility", the national government would also like to participate in "Cyber Ranges Federation".

The aim of the Cyber Ranges Federation project is to improve cooperation in the area of cyber defense. The computer simulation environments of several countries are to be linked to create a more realistic training environment. The EU member states have not yet made a decision on this project.