Largest party in Swiss parliament opposes any new aid to Ukraine

The largest party in the Swiss parliament opposed any new aid to Ukraine

The largest party in the Swiss parliament, the Democratic Union of the Center (UDC), opposed any new aid to Ukraine and advocated for tougher conditions for granting refugee status to citizens of this country. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

"The Confederation is spending billions of francs of public money. Granting status S (temporary protection status) should be limited to Ukrainians who really need protection. In addition, the UDC group opposes any new multi-billion dollar aid to Ukraine," the department said in a statement.

The party explained that it wants to limit the granting of status S to people whose last place of residence was in regions of Ukraine where military action is taking place.

"Ukraine is 15 times larger than Switzerland. Large areas are under Ukrainian control and are not affected by the fighting, and the arrival of people from the latter is not justified. Proof of this is that people enjoying protective status S regularly visit these regions from Switzerland! Status S should also no longer apply to foreigners living in Ukraine, since they can return to their country of origin anyway," the deputies added.

The party recalled that since status S came into force in 2022, Switzerland has spent around $3.36 billion.

The Democratic Union of the Center is the largest political party in the Swiss National Council, with 62 seats out of 200 possible. The party opposes Switzerland's accession to the EU and NATO, as it believes that the country's neutrality should be strict, and is also against sanctions against Russia and the supply of Swiss weapons to Ukraine.