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00:00It's been a principle of Swiss foreign policy for centuries.
00:04Permanent neutrality is enshrined in the country's constitution.
00:09And while nothing on paper is changing, a new report by a group of experts is recommending
00:14it does.
00:15Since last year, parliamentarians, diplomats, a former army chief and others have been working
00:20in secrecy to determine Switzerland's security policy for the years to come.
00:25The report, commissioned a year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, calls for adapting
00:30its legendary neutrality and moving closer to NATO, advocating Swiss soldiers take part
00:36in the alliance's military drills.
00:39Neutrality has been a posture that has historically benefited the tiny country of less than nine
00:44million people by positioning itself as a staging ground for important global events.
00:49For instance, in 2021, US President Joe Biden met Russia's Vladimir Putin in Geneva in their
00:55only face-to-face meeting as presidents.
00:58More recently, the country hosted Vladimir Zelensky's peace summit on Ukraine.
01:03The ongoing conflict is largely seen as steering the direction of this latest report.
01:08While Switzerland prohibits the transfer of the weapons it sells abroad to Ukraine's army,
01:13it observes EU sanctions on Moscow.
01:16It's a position far-right elements domestically say is a rejection of the country's principle
01:20of neutrality.
01:22While the recommendations are no doubt likely to create ripples across Switzerland, nothing
01:27will change in the constitution without the people having their say.
01:31A survey conducted last year showed over 90 percent of the country approved the principle
01:36of neutrality.