Swiss Parliament votes in favour of Nuclear Ban Treaty

The Swiss Parliament last week voted in favour of a motion calling on the Government to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and bring it forward for ratification.

Switzerland voted in favour of the Treaty at the United Nations in July 2017 but as yet have not taken any further action. There are currently 69 signatories to the Treaty and 19 states have completed the ratification process. The Treaty will enter in to force when 50 states have completed ratification.

So far four European states have signed the Treaty: Ireland, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Austria along with the Holy See, with the latter two having completed ratification.

The Swiss Federal Council has previously welcomes the Treaty as a “step in the direction” of a nuclear weapons-free world, but has raised concerns that the nuclear-armed states have not taken part in any of the processes. The Federal Council have yet to respond to the motion passed last week.

The full text of the motion passed is:

The Federal Council is invited to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as soon as possible and to submit it without delay to the ratification of Parliament

We continue to pray that more states will sign and ratify the Treaty so that it can quickly enter into force. We also pray for our colleagues working on these issues around the world, like the ICAN campaigners who were so involved in this step in Switzerland. Please join us in thanking God for them and praying for their strength and courage in 2019.

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