Piranhas for Romania’s Iraq and Afghanistan missions
Goods category: War materiel
In August 2007, SECO and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs approved the sale of 31 Mowag Piranhas to Romania for around 62 million Swiss francs. Romania planned to deploy them in Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision drew criticism from, among others, Swiss People’s Party and Social Democratic parliamentarians.
Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision
Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. For Romania, as a current Annex 2 state, Article 22a paragraph 2bis would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases.
Countries
Romania
Iraq
AfghanistanConflicts
Companies
Time period
2007
Sources
- SWI swissinfo: Arms deal with Romania triggers controversy, 31.08.2007
- SWI swissinfo.ch, 15.11.2009: Esportazioni militari, una storia di scandali (Carole Wälti; italienische Übersetzung: Sonia Fenazzi)