The lower house of the Swiss parliament accepted, with 96 votes in favour and 87 opposed, a motion tightening the requirements for Ukrainians seeking special protection in Switzerland, following a similar vote by the upper house earlier this year.
The motion, put forward by the hard-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – Switzerland’s largest party – will restrict access to temporary protection to those fleeing areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia or directly affected by the conflict.
A second motion which passed, which passed with an overwhelming 120 votes in favour and 60 opposed, will meanwhile make it easier to crack down on abuses in the system.
Switzerland’s government, which opposed both motions, introduced the so-called protection status S shortly after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
That status, similar to that offered in neighbouring European Union countries, provides temporary protection to those in need for as long as serious general danger persists.
As of the end of August, around 66,000 Ukrainians had protection status S in Switzerland, according to Bern.
The government has said that it will not lift the status until there is lasting stability in Ukraine, and that it is expected to remain in place until at least March 2026.
The parliamentary motion voted through on Monday will not remove the status, but will impose significant restrictions.
SVP parliamentarian Pascal Schmid insisted the change was needed, telling the house that “there is no fighting in large parts of Ukraine” and that many without a need for protection were being granted special status in Switzerland.
He said the Swiss population had from the start of the war welcomed fleeing Ukrainians “with great solidarity”.
“But this solidarity reaches its limits when the burden becomes too great and when abuses increase,” he said.
Swiss justice minister Beat Jans insisted during the session that “there are no safe areas in Ukraine”.
“Even far from the front, Russian attacks with bombs, missiles and drones continue to occur,” he said.
The motion, he warned, “ultimately only helps Russia… It undermines European solidarity and thus plays into Russia’s hands”.