“Only if you vote for Martin Schulz, will you have a German as President of the European Commission”.

This is actually stated in an advertisement for the candidate of the European Socialists party for the presidency of the European Commission, which was published on Friday in German newspapers “Bild” and “Sueddeutsche”, causing strong reactions as Schulz seems to -according to many- be “flirting” with German nationalism.

The online “Bind” version promotes the message in a more…dulcet tone: “Martin Schulz: From Germany. For Europe. Vote for him on May 25th”.

However, a spokesman for Schulz stated that the presidency candidate has not yet seen the ad, noting, however, that he will not be commenting on it, because it comes “from the party itself”.

Commenting on the ad, international media reports that it goes against the “ethos” of Schulz’s agenda, who appears to be in favour of the European Union and the resolution of its problems.

However, Schulz had stated that his ethnicity plays no part in his candidacy, in an interview he recently gave to “Der Spiegel” magazine.

“Europe is in a very dangerous place. We cannot be rivals. I have a European direction and ethnicity plays no part for me. I think the people are aware of this”, he had stated.

As Euobserver.com states, the advertisement is likely to fuel fears associated with Germany’s dominance in the European Union.