SVP changes election campaign ad because of publishers
Some newspapers have rejected the SVP's advertisement for the "Stop mass immigration" initiative - the SVP has therefore changed the title.
General Secretary Martin Baltisser confirmed a report in Südostschweiz and the Aargauer Zeitung on Saturday that the SVP had made the adjustment under pressure from the newspapers. The advertisement originally stated in the plural: "Kosovars slash Swiss!" This was the result of uncontrolled mass immigration. An incident on August 15 in Interlaken BE is described. However, some newspapers only accepted the advertisement with the headline in the singular: "Kosovar slashes Swiss!". According to Baltisser, the SVP considers the original version to be correct. However, they decided pragmatically and accepted the change because it made no difference to the content. The SVP argued that there were two Kosovars at the scene of the crime, even if only one of them had injured the Swiss man with a knife.
The plural version of the advertisement appeared in the St. Galler Tagblatt, whereupon the newspaper apologized for the fact that the "inflammatory subject found its way into the paper in an uncontrolled manner". It defamed an entire ethnic group across the board. (SDA)
