A hoax artwork which was supposed to celebrate European diversity provoked a full-scale diplomatic incident between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic today.
The sculpture, commissioned by the Czech government to mark their EU presidency, mocked Europe’s national stereotypes, but some governments have failed to get the joke.
Bulgaria has taken exception to its caricature, which depicts the country as a Turkish squat toilet. The country's ambassador wrote formal letters of complaint to the Czech EU presidency and Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, today. Read full article >>
Sky News, the Financial Times and guardian.co.uk have slideshows showing details of the artwork. How many of the countries can you identify? Don't look for Britain—it's the only EU state not represented. Apparently, this is the artist's way of saying that Britain has no interest in being part of Europe.
A hoax is a trick in which someone tells people a lie. For instance, a bomb hoax or a hoax call: He denied making the hoax call, but the jury found him guilty. Someone who perpetrates a hoax is a hoaxer. Famous examples include the Hitler Diary hoax and the Roswell Alien Autopsy. During the American election campaign some Canadian journalists made a hoax phone call to Sarah Palin pretending to be Nicolas Sarkozy.
• Bulgarian lavatory to be removed from controversial EU artwork (Telegraph)