Swiss foreign minister deletes 90% of his tweets

Cassis joined Twitter while running for the House of Representatives in 2011. Keystone

Ignazio Cassis, Switzerland’s newly elected foreign affairs minister, has removed over 90% of his Twitter posts. He’ll polish his Facebook profile next, say government authorities. 

The Twitter account @ignaziocassisExternal link had 580 posts as of December 17, the Zurich-based newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Thursday. Now it’s down to 43. 

+ Cassis expresses dismay at European Union finance market negotiations

The centre-right Radical Party member joined Twitter in March 2011. Some of the deleted tweets include comments deemed not suitable for his role as Switzerland’s foreign affairs minister. 

For example, in June 2016, after Britain’s vote to leave the EU, the then-parliamentarian wrote: “Brexit, Grexit, Quitaly oder Endenemark? AdiEU everybody!” The website PolitwoopsExternal link archives the deleted tweets of politicians. 

As the foreign affairs ministry told the Tages-Anzeiger, Cassis will use his existing social media accounts for official department business. Most of his pre-election posts are not relevant for his current function, it said. 

Ones like this celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Italian band PoohExternal link remain:

Pooh in Piazza Grande: 50imo anniversario. Più che mai magnifici. L'essenza delle emozioni <3 pic.twitter.com/3PvJjzXw6SExternal link

— Ignazio Cassis (@ignaziocassis) July 9, 2016External link

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The next step is for Cassis to update his Facebook profileExternal link. 

Cassis is the first member of the seven-person government from the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino since 1999. He replaced Didier Burkhalter, who handed in his notice in June for personal reasons.