Swiss voters reject bid to tighten neutrality rules amid debate over Russia

Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to enshrine stricter neutrality in the constitution. According to the final results, 70.1 per cent of voters rejected the initiative, which was championed by a hard-right party and dubbed "pro-Russian" by opponents, as per the South China Morning Post.

The proposal was opposed by the government, parliament, and most major political parties. The Swiss Foreign Minister, Ignazio Cassis, stated that the result was not a vote against neutrality, and that Switzerland would remain neutral.

The rejection of the proposal was widespread, with a majority in all 26 of the country's regions voting against it, as reported by Le Monde English and PBS NewsHour, both citing the Swiss government's final results.

Brief written by urgent.news from Qatar Tribune, South China Morning Post, Le Monde English, PBS NewsHour — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.