Greek bashing enters election campaign

In the wake of a hostile media campaign in Germany, Greek bashing is now making headlines in the Czech Republic. With two weeks left to run before general elections on 28 and 29 May, Hospodářské Noviny reports that the right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) has published a poster claiming that "Greek socialists are the same as their Czech counterparts." The slogan is accompanied by a photograph of Greek demonstrators wearing gas masks and burning a Greek flag. On its front page, the daily announces that "the Greeks are not pleased" — in fact the Greek ambassador has lodged a complaint. The ODS insists that the campaign "aims to take issue with indifference to public debt," but does not target Greece. Czech socialists have responded with a campaign that blames the previous right-wing government in Greece for the country's high level of public debt.