Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to write a stricter form of neutrality into the constitution. Final results from the Federal Statistical Office showed about 70 percent of voters and all cantons voted against the measure, Reuters reported.

The initiative, championed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), would have barred Switzerland from imposing its own economic sanctions and from cooperating with military alliances such as NATO except when the country was under attack. It was a response to Bern's decision to adopt European Union sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a press conference the result was not a vote against neutrality itself. He said Switzerland was neutral yesterday, is neutral today, and will remain neutral in the future. The Swiss government, which opposed the proposal, said the outcome lets it keep deciding sanctions on a case-by-case basis and cooperate with partners when that strengthens security.

The vote preserves Switzerland's ability to join sanctions and work with NATO partners, and ends a campaign that argued the country had drifted too close to the EU and NATO.