Switzerland Invades Liechtenstein!

[Butch]

Sneaky Swiss! A night time sneak attack!

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Mistaken-Invasion.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

March 2, 2007
Swiss Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:43 a.m. ET

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

''We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem,'' Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. ''It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something,'' he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.

[MikeD]

I heard they had good intel on WMD's being present... :hihi:

[Butch]

I heard they had good intel on WMD's being present... :hihi:

:lmfao: . . . I'm supposed to go to Geneva on Wednesday . . . may have to boycott my trip . . . although I think I'd have a tough time explaining that to my boss!

[Nija]

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.

So the Swiss conquered the Leechs without a shot fired. They quickly realized what a crap hole it was, and gave it back.

[bachviet]

And I thought Swiss Army is good. :P

[Houdini]

Hah! As tight-arsed as the Swiss are about crossing into their borders (along with the fact that almost every man in Switzerland owns a govt. issued rifle), I'm surprised. But they just got lost. Hilarious.

H

[molecularfire]

Hehehe... Liechtenstein isn't that big a country... especially the part that separates Switzerland from Austria. There is a decent chance that if they hadn't noticed their mistake as early as they did that they could've gone into Austrian territory. In the very least, they went about 20% of the way through Liechtenstein if they went straight towards the austrian side.

[oblongmelon]

Omg I wonder if they wear the same outfits that the Swiss Guards at the Vatican wear..cool!

[zippyjuan]

Before the EU took down internal border controls, Switzerland used to administer the ones for Lichtenstein and they shared the same currency. I believe they still have security agreements to protect them so the incident really doesn't mean much. I rode through Lichtenstein on my bicycle once. The sky was so clear you could see from one end of the country to the other! Two kilometers is a pretty deep incursion into that tiny country. It is only fifteen miles long- the long way.

[clutchy]

well played my fellow countrymen, well played!

[Houdini]

Before the EU took down internal border controls, Switzerland used to administer the ones for Lichtenstein and they shared the same currency. I believe they still have security agreements to protect them so the incident really doesn't mean much. I rode through Lichtenstein on my bicycle once. The sky was so clear you could see from one end of the country to the other! Two kilometers is a pretty deep incursion into that tiny country. It is only fifteen miles long- the long way.

Heh...well, Switzerland still doesn't recognize the free-international borders. It's kind of a pain taking a train or whatever into Switzerland. It has to stop, guys with MP5s check passports, ask you questions, etc. For every other country, unless someone tells you, you'll probably not even know you're crossing a border.