The far-right Danish People's party, one of the country's most vociferous opponents of the euro, is to scrap a major advertising campaign ahead of this month's referendum because it fears it is alienating leftwing voters who loathe its policies as much as they detest the single currency. The DPP has, in the minds of many Danes, become closely associated with the campaign to reject the euro in a referendum on September 28.
However, the media have seized on other of its policies, such as the repatriation of refugees, castration of paedophiles and "Denmark for the Danes", creating a welter of embarrassing publicity.
The leftwing Socialist People's party and grassroots organisations are also pushing for a No vote in the crucial referendum but their media profile has been much lower.
The DPP will make a final push for a Nej to the euro this weekend at their annual congress, where the maverick Tory MEP and Daily Telegraph leader writer Daniel Hannan will be the guest of honour. But party officials conceded yesterday that this would be their last big campaign effort.
"A lot of leftwingers are against the EU and the euro but if we are too aggressive, especially in the newspapers and on TV, perhaps we will deter them," Jens Wibeck, a DPP official, said. "We don't want to be too provocative and the press is always on our backs. Too much focus has been on us." The DPP's leadership has found the media attention uncomfortable and its governing board is to step into the shadows after this weekend's congress.
A planned nationwide television and newspaper advertising campaign has been pulled and the DPP's outspoken leader, Pia Kjaersgaard, is expected to curb her more colourful outbursts.
Holger Nielsen, leader of the Socialist People's party, yesterday told the Guardian he welcomed the DPP's change of tack but questioned its motives. "If they had been very active it could have been a problem," he said. "My own opinion is that they will save the money they would have spent on an ad campaign and spend it on refugee questions. That's the real reason."
An opinion poll yesterday gave the Yes camp a 4% lead over the No camp, but the vote is still too close to call, even though the Danish government, most political parties, the media and big business have backed a Yes vote.
