On Sunday Swiss people voted in a referendum on two different issues; the first asked Swiss to decide whether to stop the trade of war materials and weapons that Switzerland conducts despite its well-known neutrality and the second asked Swiss citizens to express their will concerning the construction of new minarets.

The vote outcome was negative for the first question and positive for the second, with 57.5 percent of the population supporting the prohibition of minarets construction.

The campaign against minarets was launched by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SPP) that used as a symbol of their idea a Swiss flag covered by black minarets looking like missiles.

According to the government, the vote outcome will only ban the construction of future minarets, but it will not affect the ones already existing on the Swiss territory nor the construction of Mosques.

In fact in Switzerland there are around 200 mosques and praying rooms, but only four have minarets, while requests to built new minarets are pending.

On Sunday after the vote outcome, Economics Minister Doris Leuthard said that the government was disappointed with the vote and that "The outcome of the vote is undeniably a reflection of the fears and uncertainties that exist among the population; concerns that Islamic fundamentalist ideas could lead to the establishment of parallel societies".

In another conference in Geneva, Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey said this vote was an expression of the general sense of loss in time of globalization and economic crises and that it was not a rejection of dialogue between different religions.

Oskar Freysinger, the driving force in the campaign against minarets and member of the SPP, made clear that this vote will not change the right for Muslim to practice their religion, rather it expresses the will of the society to limit the political-legal wing of Islam for which there is no separation between state and religion.

Now parties are trying to contain the negative effect that such a decision has and will have on foreign public opinion, although the real purpose of this vote is still not clear.

If the SPP wanted to take an action against radical Islamic organization then why freezing the construction of minarets and not looking for the people that send a message of hate inside the mosques.

If they wanted to express to the Muslim community that their are unwelcome in Switzerland, then why Fraysinger cared so much about saying this event will not limit the right of expressing Islam.

It seems like there is no clear message and no clear policy beyond this campaign and people start wandering about the consequences if this act.

First, concerning trade, the business community fears a boycott of products; 7 percent of Switzerland's total exports, according to Blick newspaper, are destined to Muslim countries. Therefore can become one of the possible responses to the vote.

Second, concerning International Law, the government and numerous experts have argued that a ban on constructing minarets is in violation of the freedom of religion and legal safeguards contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.

In fact, the Swiss green party is considering to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against the vote outcome.

It is important for Switzerland now to seriously take into account the voters will and at the same time take measures to limit the damage this outcome might cause, both inside Switzerland, especially on the Muslim community, and outside the country on global public opinion, International Law and business.