Quote Originally Posted by bourbon View Post
So who is going guard the Pope now?
The Swiss guard in Rome is affected by this law since the social benefits are paid by the Confederation. Nevertheless, they receive their pay from the Vatican.

Some background: Aegis Defence Services, the UK PMC, has its holding company based in Switzerland. Since they have grown to be a large company with operations in a number of countries - I would imagine this has raised issues with the matter of Swiss neutrality.
This is correct indeed! The move of Aegis provoked a lot of anti-"mercenary" reactions. Thoug a survey made in 2010 showd that at least about twenty contractor companies resided in Switzerland. Many of them working with NGOs and humanitarian organizations like the UN and the Red Cross.

Therein lies also one of the contradictions IMO. The law forbids firms to recruit personnel and to promote activities that lead to direct involvement in hostilities in conflict zones. But how will they control that?

Regards PB