EU not to seek Europe-wide ban on Nazi symbols

The European Commission has said that it will not seek to introduce a pan-European ban on the use of Nazi symbols but that such decisions should be left up to national governments. A statement from the Commissioner for Justice, Franco Frattini, said that a blanket ban would be 'unwise' but that much debate is still needed on how the continent should tackle emotive symbols from its darkest past. Calls for the EU to copy Germany in banning the public display of Nazi insignia erupted after the UK's Prince Harry was photographed at a party wearing a WWII German army uniform complete with swastika. Conservatives in eastern Europe then demanded that Soviet insignia such as the hammer-and-sickle also be outlawed, noting that Joseph Stalin was if anything even more murderous than Adolf Hitler.