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BERLIN (AP) — Switzerland plans to take part in a Europe-wide air defense project initiated in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, officials said Tuesday.

The Alpine country is the second neutral nation after Austria to signal its intention to join the European Sky Shield Initiative launched by Germany last year.

Swiss Defense Minister Viola Amherd and her Austrian counterpart will sign a memorandum of understanding at a meeting Friday in Bern with Germany’s Boris Pistorius.

FILE - Then Austrian defense minister Hans Peter Doskozil reacts during a joint military exercise in Allensteig, Austria, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017. Austria’s main center-left opposition party has reversed the result of its weekend leadership election, announcing that a computer error originally led to the wrong candidate being declared the winner. At a hastily called news conference on Monday, the head of the party's electoral commission announced that it was in fact Andreas Babler and not Hans Peter Doskozil who won, taking 317 votes to Doskozil's 280, the Austria Press Agency reported. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)

Austria’s main center-left opposition party has reversed the result of its weekend leadership election, announcing that a computer error originally led to the wrong candidate being declared the winner.

FILE - A giant advertising goggle reading the slogan 'relax, if you can' stands in Ischgl, Austria, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. An Austrian federal court says the state can’t be held liable for a COVID-19 infection in an outbreak at an Alpine ski resort as the pandemic hit Europe in early 2020. The Supreme Court of Justice on Thursday announced its verdict in a long-running legal battle involving a German resident who traveled to Ischgl on March 7, 2020 and visited several apres-ski venues before returning home six days later. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

An Austrian federal court says the state can’t be held liable for a COVID-19 infection from an outbreak at an Alpine ski resort as the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe The Supreme Court of Justice on Thursday announced its verdict in a long-running legal battle involving a German resident who travele

FILE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md. Whitmer spent two days in Europe the week of May 8, as part of her second international trade trip during the year. She visited Austria to meet with business leaders before heading to Latvia where she met with the President Egils Levits and Michigan National Guard troops in the country. She used the visit to show support for Ukraine, calling it “Russia's illegal war.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer conducted her second international trade mission of the year this week, spending two days in Austria and Latvia meeting with both business and government leaders.

France's Caroline Garcia reacts after her side win the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying match between Great Britain and France at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry, England, Saturday April 15, 2023. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

Jessica Pegula sent the U.S. into the Billie Jean King Cup finals with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Julia Grabher of Austria.

The European Sky Shield Initiative, or ESSI, was proposed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in August of last year as a means of bundling the continent’s efforts to defend against possible aircraft or missile attacks. It will complement existing air defense systems established by the NATO alliance, which Austria and Switzerland aren’t members of.

The two countries have made clear that joining the initiative won’t entail any participation in international military conflicts.

So far 17 other nations, including Germany, Britain and Sweden, have signed up. France has criticized the project because key elements — the Israeli Arrow 3 system and the U.S. Patriot system — originate outside Europe.

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