Swiss Foreign Policy, 1994

Right on time for the start of the new year, the Dodis research centre is presenting its research on Switzerland’s international relations in 1994. Dodis has examined almost a kilometre of files from the Swiss Federal Archives. On 1 January 2025, the research centre will publish a selection of particularly significant documents in the Dodis database and in its latest print edition – precisely when their legal protection period expires. Confidential negotiations with the EU on sectoral bilateral agreements, cooperation on security policy in Europe and the intensification of global economic contacts feature prominently: «The documents from 1994 show symptomatically how closely domestic and foreign policy were entangled in Switzerland», explains Sacha Zala, Director of Dodis. «The rejection of the EEA in 1992 was not going to remain an isolated case.» 

A turning point in transport policy
In 1994, a series of popular votes showed that Swiss foreign policy also had to negotiate with the people. At the beginning of the year, the people accepted the Alpine initiative, overturning the Federal Council’s plans – not only on transport policy, but on foreign policy as well. The abrupt reversal in Swiss transport policy caused considerable irritation in Brussels. The Federal Council tried to appease opinion by asserting that Switzerland would respect its commitments despite the initiative «to protect the Alpine region from transit traffic» (dodis.ch/64665) and presented a solution in line with European requirements in September. However, the transport sector remained at the centre of attention, not only in the negotiations with the EU, but also in the media and in everyday conversation across the country (dodis.ch/68436).  

The Federal Council in a crisis of confidence?
In June, Switzerland’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations (blue helmets), the article on the promotion of culture and facilitated naturalisation for young foreigners all failed at the polls. Following this crushing defeat in the ballot, the Federal Council saw more than just its general direction called into question: there was a real loss of confidence in a government that was «not always able to lead», and the country appeared divided. But the Federal Council should be perfectly capable of defending its policy. To achieve this, Federal Councillor Ogi believed that Switzerland’s foreign policy needed to be more firmly rooted in domestic policy (dodis.ch/67773). Collaboration within the Council and respect for concordance were recurring themes throughout the year and were the subject of a new closed-door meeting at the end of the year (dodis.ch/67782).  

Clear-cut rather than «wishy-washy»
Swiss foreign policy in the 1990s, what was that supposed to be? The Federal Council commented on this in a policy paper that was discussed at length in parliament in 1994. The Federal Council was keen to be clear-cut rather than «wishy-washy». Ultimately, the aim was to demonstrate that foreign policy is «about the essential interests of the Swiss people» and that referendums «had never stopped the country’s history» (dodis.ch/66378). The President of the Confederation, Otto Stich, was well aware of this when he spoke on the Swiss-German television programme «Arena» on 16 September 1994 in defence of the law against racism, which had been submitted to a referendum (dodis.ch/68546). Unlike several popular votes in 1994, the government won the vote on Switzerland’s accession to the UN Convention against Racism. «However, 1994 made the Federal Council realise just how strong the opposition of its foreign policy course had become», notes Sacha Zala, Director of Dodis. 

A selection of documents relevant to the research is freely available at www.dodis.ch. 

→ To the volume DDS 1994