BRUSSELS, May 20 (UPI) -- Political parties are using video ads as a way to battle widespread apathy regarding next month's European Parliament elections, analysts say.
The French newspaper Le Figaro reports in France, socialists are using parodies of Apple Computer advertisements and have objected to a government ad urging EU voting as thinly-veiled propaganda for the ruling center-right Union for a Popular Movement, the EU Observer reported Wednesday.
In the Czech Republic, the publication says the Green Party is unveiling an ad depicting Euro-skeptical President Vaclav Klaus as a rooster crowing against Europe, while Greens leader Martin Bursik nobly asks a farmer not to strike with an ax.
The ads are hoping to counter polls indicating turnout for the June 4-7 EU elections will be very low, with 53 percent of Europeans saying they are not interested. The EU Observer said apathy is especially pronounced in Britain, Lithuania and Slovakia, while Irish and Dutch residents have told pollsters they are anxious to vote.
Voter participation is being urged by Catholic and evangelical churches in Germany, which reportedly issued a joint statement saying the EU can only survive "if it is carried by the trust of its citizens."
