Prague, Sept 1 (CTK) – The BIS counter-intelligence did not record any extremists’ activities last year that would pose a specific threat or immediate danger to the national democratic foundations, the Czech secret service has said in its annual report released yesterday.
The extremists tried to address the general public and gain its support, the report said.
More important, there is the new factor of extremists’ ability to overlook in some cases their discrepancies, personal and ideological differences and to start cooperating, it added.
Last year, the BIS focused on the impact of the migrant crisis and subsequent refugee wave that came from Europe on Czech society.
This increased the activities of the people promoting xenophobia and racism, the report said.
“The topic of immigration went beyond the topic of extremism, becoming one of the problems Czech society started considering a security risk,” the report said.
Last year was important by a number of rallies both against refugees and in their support due to the migrant crisis.
Rightist extremists established contacts with populist anti-refugee groups, the report said.
“The collaboration had a variety of forms, from a mere participation of rightist extremists in the events staged by anti-refugee activities to the joint organisation of demonstrations and an occasional establishment of bilateral friendly contacts,” it added.
A security risk was also posed by leftist extremist groups that pursued the primary objective of escalating the situation and provoking conflicts.
“At the beginning, there were primarily verbal attacks and provocations of ideological opponents. There were several cases of throwing eggs at speakers or participants in anti-refugee events,” the report said.
“In the second half of the year, more dangerous objects were also hurled in a crowd of the opponents of migration,” it added.
