The first woman to take over the Ministry of Defence of Switzerland, Viola Amherd, today announced resignation to reporters after she unveiled a government plan to attract more women to the armed forces.

“After more than 30 years of political work, including more than 25 in an executive office, it is time for me to hand over the baton,” Amherd, a member of the federal council who joined the council in 2019, said during a press conference in Bern.

The announcement of Amherd’s (Centre Party, age 62) resignation comes weeks after her term as council president expired, as ministers in Switzerland rotate in the role each year.

The resigned defence minister has been at the centre of fierce criticism from the radical right-wing UDC (Democratic Union of the Centre) party, the country’s leading political force, which this weekend called for her resignation. The UDC accuses Viola Amherd of wanting to bring Switzerland, a neutral country, closer to NATO.

He called for mandatory military service

Before announcing her resignation, Amherd spoke of the decline recorded in personnel in the armed forces.

The Swiss army, which is organized as a militia, also deals with disaster rescue operations (civil protection). Under the supervision of thousands of professionals, the conscripts serve a minimum four-month term before being asked to participate six times to attend three-week training courses.

Military personnel have declined in recent decades, from several hundred thousand members during the Cold War to nearly 147,000 in 2024 due largely to the introduction of civilian service in 1996.

“Civilian protection is underfunded and this problem is getting worse year after year. At the end of this decade, the army will face the same problem, especially because of the large number of retirements for civilian service,” Amherd explained.

“Given the current threat situation in Europe and the world, the inadequacy of the personnel of these two organisations cannot be tolerated before the Federal Council (government),” she added, stressing that “it is, therefore, necessary to develop the system of compulsory service.”

In addition, the government “intends to introduce a mandatory awareness day for women” and has instructed the defence ministry to develop a plan in this direction,” she said in a press release.