Switzerland poised to go ahead with the Swedish Gripen deal

Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Switzerland looks set to go ahead with the plan to buy 22 Swedish JAS Gripen jet fighters, despite a highly critical parliamentary report published on Tuesday.

Swedish media report hold that the parliamentary committee voted 16-9 to go ahead with the deal.
Defence Minister, Ueli Maurer said the negotiations with Sweden will soon be completed, such that the remaining issues could be resolved later.

Maurer said that the Gripen was "the cheapest option." The price tag is Skr21 billion and the Swiss have according to Maurer guarantees that it will not change.
Some critics of the deal hold that there should be a referendum on the issue.

What do you think about this article and us? Please leave a comment