Labeling the move "a shot in the knee", Delo says in "Minarets Instead of Windmills" Switzerland has tarnished its image of a tolerant and open society.
Indeed it will do itself even more disservice by trying to ban the burqa in Switzerland. If nothing else, Saudi sheiks are sure to move their money out of Swiss banks because they will not be able to visit the country with their wives.
It is true that Islamic fundamentalism brings many things that an open and tolerant Europe is right to reject. But more than loud populism, Europe needs practical measures.
A ban on minarets is not a practical measure, but one that will surely worsen ties with immigrants in Switzerland and will likely result in copycat measures in other countries where populists have a grip on power.
Wondering what made the Swiss lose their nerve to equate the fight on Islamic fundamentalism with the fight on minarets, Delo hopes that the European Convention on Human Rights will prove to be a barrier to bans such as that approved in Switzerland.
