After goof-up, Swiss paper begs pardon from ex-envoy

‘‘Mistakes happen. Sometimes it takes a while to correct them,’’ Ringier wrote, explaining that the brash paper had since discovered that the former model had received 10,000 euros for her story and that it got pictures of her by lying to another publication.

‘‘Both incidents are violations of journalistic diligence that we cannot tolerate at Ringier. Thus I would like to apologise to our esteemed readers on behalf of the editors,’’ Ringier wrote. The paper’s Editor-in-Chief and Berlin correspondent resigned last week after the model said she had been paid to lie in print about the affair.

‘‘Thomas Borer and his wife also owed an apology. They have both suffered hardship, which I regret. We have apologised to them,’’ Ringier wrote. An out-of-court settlement would head off lengthy lawsuits over the incident, he added. The newspaper did not say how much it would pay out, but a spokesman told Swiss radio that it would be a seven-figure sum.

From the outset Borer denied allegations, raised in March, that he had sex with a 34-year-old German model at Switzerland’s Berlin embassy while his wife was away.