A plea for a federal Cyprus on the Swiss model

There is very bad turbulence all around Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean that calls for wise leadership all round to steer Cyprus in a safe direction.

Switzerland managed to stay neutral during two world wars in 1914-18 and 1939-45 involving Germany, France and Italy even though its cantons were populated by German, French and Italian speakers.

Of course Cyprus is not Switzerland and the eastern Mediterranean is not an Alpine region in Central Europe, but there are lessons for Cypriots to ponder about the Swiss federal system on how it managed to keep its mighty neighbours at bay.

Switzerland became seriously neutral with the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 when its neutrality was internationally recognised. It had been de facto neutral and confederal for centuries before 1815 for pragmatic reasons – usually to prevent civil war.

Its many cantons had free standing relations and alliances with other states but gradually they developed an intense sense of being Swiss as distinct from being French, German or Italian.

When Napoleon invaded in 1798, he breached Swiss neutrality and formed a centralised Helvetic Republic on the French model which did not work as the cantons were too attached to their federal ways.

Napoleon, who was an intellectual as well as a military man, then remodelled Helvetia as a federal republic albeit under French influence. But it was always regarded by the Swiss as a French occupation regime much like the Turkish army in Cyprus is regarded, certainly by the Greek Cypriots, as an occupation force.

The Swiss confederation and Swiss neutrality were all restored after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 when Switzerland was declared perpetually neutral in a treaty signed by France, Britain, Prussia and Russia. Interestingly, the full name of its current constitution is Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 1999.

There is a close historical and political connection between Swiss neutrality and its cantonal federal system. When you have confederal cantons, it is not easy to commit to alliances because the best way of achieving consensus in a federation like that of Switzerland is to stay neutral and provide competing powers with mediation services. This explains why most international organisations are based in Switzerland.

By the way, I still don’t understand why the UN is still based in New York when the US has been involved in most major wars since the creation of the UN in 1945. After the US attacked Iran illegally in 2026 the UN HQ should have removed to Geneva where its predecessor the League of Nations was based.

The modern federal state in Switzerland strengthened cantonal autonomy but transferred foreign affairs to federal organs with due regard to cantonal consensus. The point of importance for Cyprus is that neutrality and federalism go hand in hand in managing linguistic and religious diversity. In Cyprus a federal system would require the federal government to negotiate with each of the constituent states on external military relations guided more by consensus along Swiss neutrality lines rather than commitment to any belligerent state.  

As the EU is not a military alliance Cyprus’ membership of the EU is consistent with neutrality, and as it is unlikely to become a military alliance so long as Nato exists, it does not really pose a neutrality problem. Switzerland is not a member of the EU, although only after a number of referendums to join were rejected by the people rather than because it was contrary to the principle of perpetual neutrality.

Membership of Nato would pose neutrality problems and would strain Cyprus’ relationship with Russia and China and is best avoided as Russia has traditionally been a friendly state.

As I said in a previous article Cyprus should give the US and Israel a wide berth after their unlawful attack on Iran on February 28. Cosying up to Israel because it has become a regional power on bad terms with Turkey – on the basis that my enemy’s enemy is my friend – is attractive to some Greek Cypriot nationalists, but very unwise and potentially catastrophic. As the former Cypriot foreign minister the late Nikos Rolandis once said of a future war between Turkey and Israel on Cyprus soil quoting an African proverb “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

Cyprus’ relations with the motherlands Greece and Turkey do pose serious neutrality problems. I asked AI whether the Swiss regard Germany, France and Italy as their motherlands as it was important to find out an important difference between Cyprus and Switzerland.

I was told by my daughter not to use AI as it wastes a lot of precious water, but on matters of fact its usefulness was too great to resist. According to my AI app the Swiss do not regard Germany, France, or Italy as their “motherlands” in the way many Cypriots regard Greece and Turkey. 

Swiss identity evolves around the Swiss Confederation itself, rather than any attachment to their neighbouring countries. Indeed some Swiss Germans are even negative about Germany and emphasise cultural and historical differences including with Nazi Germany – by the way Hitler did not care for the Swiss Germans either calling them the “wayward branch of the German people”.  

Like the Greek and Turkish dialect is different to that in mainland Greece and Turkey, the Swiss dialect in German is different from that in Germany, but unlike the Cypriots the Swiss celebrate the difference, whereas some Cypriots have a bit of a complex about their dialect – in Greece as soon as a Cypriot speaks Greek they are asked if they are Cypriot.

Most French and Italian-speaking Swiss also identify strongly with Switzerland. Even though they share a language with France and Italy they too feel Swiss with a vengeance.

Alas the leadership in Cyprus on both sides is too lightweight to understand that federalism on the Swiss model and judicious neutrality are the best way to keep the elephants from fighting in Cyprus.