SWISS REFERENDUM SET TO REJECT TIGHTER NEUTRALITY RULES

ZURICH, SEPTEMBER 27 /SRNA-Reuters/ - Swiss voters are on course to reject a proposal to adopt a more restrictive form of state neutrality that would prevent the country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO, exit poll results from today's referendum showed.

More than two-thirds of voters opposed the proposal to set out a strictly defined version of neutrality in the Swiss Constitution, according to referendum projections published by public broadcaster SRF.

The projections showed 68 percent voting "no" and 31 percent "yes".

Switzerland's neutrality has been internationally recognized since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, but the law does not precisely define how the authorities should implement it.

The right-wing Swiss People's Party argues that Switzerland's traditional position was undermined after Bern imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.