Cross -border tensions
An insult on a sticker ignites Italian-Suisses relations
A Ticino car sporting an insulting message towards Italy has created a diplomatic mini-incident. The incident rekindled the debate on border workers.
The object of the offense: a sticker representing the Italian flag accompanied by the inscription “Vaffanculo”.
DR
- The provocative sticker on a Ticino car sparked an Italo-Swiss diplomatic controversy.
- THE carabinieri demanded the withdrawal of a sticker deemed offensive to Italy.
- The Omar Wicht advisor offers a reciprocal boycott between the two countries.
- The Neapolitan owner of the vehicle claims that the sticker was an misunderstood joke.
Did this motorist want to provoke the Italian state? A controversial sticker on a Ticino car sparked an epic controversy between Switzerland and Italy. In June, a Mendrisio resident found himself in the center of a media storm after having parked his vehicle in front of a supermarket in Varese, Italy, with a sticker deemed very insulting, according to varesenews.it
This sticker represents the Italian flag accompanied by the inscription “Vaffanculo”, an expression of the language of Dante which does not really have its place in an Italian course for beginners. Translation: “Go make you …” According to Italian law, this type of outrage with national emblems is liable to a fine ranging from 1000 to 5000 euros. Alerted by a local lawyer, carabinieri intervened asking the driver to withdraw the sticker, without however inflicting a sanction.
Omar Wicht of the Lega gets involved
The incident was quickly relayed on social networks, causing a keen debate. Did this buy tourism lover want to provoke the Italian Republic? Omar Wicht, Lugano municipal councilor and member of the Lega, interpreted this situation as a symbol of persistent tensions concerning border workers. His provocative proposal-“We, the Swiss, would no longer buy from you and you, the Italians, would no longer come to work here”-he herself aroused many hostile reactions.
Internet users have promptly pointed out that without border workers, Ticino hospitals would be forced to close, illustrating the mutual dependence of the two regions.
The driver, surprised by the extent of the controversy, wanted to clarify the situation in the “Corriere del Ticino”. “I am not a racist. I have been an Italian from Naples and I have lived in Switzerland for nine years. I would never insult my country, “he said. According to him, the sticker present on his car for a year had to be interpreted in the second degree, combining the inscription with a gesture of the hand meaning “What do you want?”
According to the owner of the vehicle, the real message would be rather “benefit from life, take care of your business and crazy to them peace”-an explanation which, far from eating tensions, seems to have supplied more the cross-border controversy.
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