Artists join Swiss campaign for EU membership
Eight prominent Swiss artists have pledged their support for a campaign in Switzerland to open negotiations for membership of the European Union.
The artists have created posters, each of which is to be printed in a limited edition of 100 signed and numbered copies.
The proceeds of sales will go to the “Yes to Europe!” campaign, to help finance preparations for a people’s initiative, which is to go to a nationwide vote on March 4. The initiative, which is expected to be rejected, calls on the government to start immediate membership negotiations with the EU.
The eight artists are John Armieder, Balthasar Burkhard, Marianne Eigenheer, Barbara Elmerer, Sylvie Fleury, Schang Hutter, Roger Pfund and Pietro Sarto.
A campaign spokesman said that by designing the posters specially for the occasion, the artists had expressed their opinion that the creativity and cultural diversity of the Swiss should be represented within the EU framework.
“Their view is that Switzerland could not remain on the fringes of the EU,” he said, “without having a say in decisions which affect it.”
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