Prague, May 18 (CTK) – Extremists organised 334 events in the Czech Republic in 2017, which is 26 more in comparison to the previous year, according to a report on internal security provided to CTK.
The cabinet is to discuss the report at its meeting.
There were 235 leftist extremist events and 99 rightist in the country in 2017. The number of rightist extremist criminal acts increased by ten to 153 year-on-year in 2017.
The activities of the National Democracy and the Workers’ Party of Social Justice (DSSS) mainly formed the extreme right scene in the country, however, both political entities gained only a negligible number of votes in the 2017 parliamentary elections.
“In connection with the election campaign, no significant public events mobilising their proponents, unlike previous years, were registered,” the report said.
Just like in previous years, the report said the extremists were not able to engage and mobilise the wider public in the long-term.
“Their traditional topics are being utilised more effectively by populist, xenophobic entities, which cannot be called extremist, however,” the report said.
There were only isolated neo-Nazi manifestations. The security bodies registered 14 “white power music” concerts, which was a year-on-year increase by five, assessed as a significant rise by the report.
Some paramilitary groups remained active in the country, however, they did not play a significant role. These associations artificially provoke feelings of endangerment and allege that the state security bodies are ineffective. They have been focused against the Czech foreign policy in the long-term, according to the report.
The anarchists’ activities prevailed among the left extremist movements. They focused on solidarity events along with local and foreign colleagues who were subject to criminal proceedings or who were imprisoned. They also held events against xenophobia and racism, in support of squatting and social housing. A few dozens of Czech activists participated in protests against the OECD advanced countries summit in Hamburg, Germany, last year. Three Czechs were detained during the disturbances and two of them were later charged.
A more detailed, annual report on extremism in the Czech Republic is yet to be published in 2017. It also needs to be approved by the cabinet.
