Prime minister slams racism in election campaign

Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer has criticized the appearance of racist ads in campaigning to the European elections, saying that his cabinet would make the fight against extremism one of its top priorities. Public broadcasters Czech Television and Czech Radio have both refused to broadcast racist advertisement slots from the far-right National and Workers parties. The ads promise “a final solution to the gypsy problem” and contain slogans such as “Stop black racism” and “no favouring of the gypsies”. Both broadcasters say they are filing charges in connection with the ads. As public broadcasters they are obliged by law to broadcast the election slots they receive from all parties running in the European elections.

Prime Minister Fischer said on Wednesday his government would seek a ban on the far-right Workers’ Party. A request from the previous government to have the group declared illegal was rejected by a Czech court.