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| An Albanian soldier in the Swiss army |
From the beginning of this week until May 9th, Swiss citizens will feel the smell of gunpowder and tank smoke (like in Kosovo in the past and now in Ukraine) during the military maneuvers of the Swiss Armed Forces, where thousands of soldiers are participating fully armed.
According to the Albanian-language Swiss newspaper Le Canton27.ch, more than 4,000 soldiers will participate in these military maneuvers called "LUX23," including soldiers of Albanian origin (with Swiss passports) who can be easily identified since they have Albanian names and speak Albanian at home, as well as French, German, or Italian depending on where they live and operate in Switzerland, local media reports.
200 soldiers and officers of Albanian origin are also participating in the "LUX23" maneuvers.
Over 4,000 fully armed soldiers with hundreds of tanks and fighter planes (MIG) have been mobilized for these maneuvers, where Swiss forces will demonstrate their strength to terrorists and other enemies of peace during ten days.
More than 4,000 soldiers are participating in the military maneuvers (LUX23) in the French-speaking part of Switzerland up to Bern. Experts and former military personnel say that these military exercises are the largest in recent years and that "Romande Switzerland has been transformed into a war zone," according to the Albanian-language Swiss newspaper Le Canton27.ch, which has learned from its sources that around 200 Albanians are participating in these military exercises, including not only soldiers but also high-ranking officers serving in the Swiss Army.
The Swiss Army is a military force led by the Head of the Army, appointed by the Federal Council. The Swiss Army currently has over 150,000 active soldiers and around 33,000 reservists, aged between 18 and 33. The military budget is very high (in 2013, the Swiss Army had a budget of 4.4 billion francs).