Due to anonymous threats and security concerns, the Spreitenbach municipal council canceled the speech by SVP national councilor Roger Köppel at the national celebration. Köppel is to appear as planned in two other Aargau communities.
Roger Köppel’s speech in Spreitenbach is cancelled. However, the National Council will continue to make public appearances, as it did here in Morschach in June.
The Spreitbach municipal council has canceled the speech by the SVP National Council and “Weltwoche” publisher Roger Köppel for the national celebration due to threats of violence. The other two appearances by Köppel on the evening of the national holiday in the Aargau communities of Gipf-Oberfrick and Dürrenäsch should take place as planned. Köppel had recently caused a stir with statements about Russia and the Ukraine war. He had criticized the Western sanctions policy and Negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin called for.
Meanwhile, the Spreitenbach municipal council had announced on Sunday that it had uninvited the planned keynote speaker Köppel because of the threat of disruptive actions and violence from anonymous sources. Last Friday, a “letter with specific threats of violence” arrived at the Aargau community.
Protection not guaranteed
Due to the open space in front of the community hall, the protection of the population and the speaker could not be guaranteed, the community council said. All options were analyzed and discussed together with the regional and cantonal police. A change of location was out of the question for the municipal council. A spokeswoman for the cantonal police in Aargau did not provide any further details on the decision, which the regional police were responsible for. However, nobody could be reached at the Wettingen-Limmattal regional police on Monday.
According to the Spreitbach municipal council, it is a tradition there for speakers of all kinds to be invited on August 1st. However, Köppel polarized so much that some “even threatened to use violence against the speaker and the municipal council no longer shy away”. The council did not think so. “The municipal council was convinced that the people of Spreitbach would ultimately be tolerant enough to allow other opinions and perhaps form their own opinion on the spot.” The municipal council has filed a complaint against unknown persons against the authors of the threatening letter.
On request, Köppel did not comment on the cancellation of his appearance in Spreitbach until noon. The SVP National Council is to appear as a speaker at the August 1 celebrations in Gipf-Oberfrick and Dürrenäsch in the evening.
No changes planned in Gipf-Oberfrick and Dürrenäsch
As can be seen from the invitation from the Gipf-Oberfrick municipality, their national celebration was organized by the local men’s choir. When asked by telephone, a representative of the choir stated that there were no complications and that the event should take place as planned.
In Dürrenäsch, the Dürrenäsch Transport and Beautification Association (VVD) has taken over the organization of the national celebration. When asked, his representative Willi Braun stated that no changes were planned for the August 1st celebration. Köppel will give his speech as planned, the speech will be about Switzerland. However, in mid-July there was a discussion with the district party SP Kulm about whether Köppel should be unloaded. The VVD and the municipal council would have rejected this.
The President of the SP Kulm district, Markus Estermann, had said at the time that Köppel was a “pro-Russian speaker”. The organizers placed themselves “in a questionable corner”. At the time of the request to Köppel, the development was not yet foreseeable, but there are now sufficient reasons for canceling his commitment.
The German publicist Henryk M. Broder announced at the end of June that he would no longer write for the “Weltwoche” in the future. There “Putinists” come who claim that Russia only forestalled a NATO attack by invading Ukraine, to word.
Köppel himself said in an interview with the “Sonntags-Zeitung”: “Neither I nor any other SVP exponent has ever praised Putin or felt any sympathy for him. I have condemned this war from the start and I want it to stop. But the sanctions against Russia are not working.” The sanctions would have neither stopped the war nor deposed Putin. If you want the Ukraine war to end soon, you have to negotiate with the Russian President.