Roma have suffered from rising extremist violence recently in the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Jan Fischer said he believed the advert constituted criminal incitement to racial hatred.

The government’s Media Commission chairman Vitezslav Jandak said: “If somebody offers a ‘final solution’, it reminds me of something. I think higher law should apply here: moral law. I am very glad that Czech TV has pulled these spots.”

The term ‘final solution’ is strongly associated with extermination policy in WWII, against minorities disenfranchised by Hitler — mostly Jews but also Roma.

The previous Czech government sought unsuccessfully to crack down on extremism after a wave of neo-Nazi marches and attacks on Roma. The ‘final solution’ outrage has brought renewed calls, to include banning the National Party and the similarly-oriented Workers Party.