On the extremist scene in the Czech Republic, the so-called anti-system movement continues to lead, whose representatives do not believe in the democratic system, often express admiration for the regime in Russia and do not respect the state and its institutions. It completely overshadowed the traditional extremist and xenophobic populist subjects. This follows from the Ministry of the Interior’s report on extremism for 2023, which was approved by the government today.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the trend started during the covid-19 pandemic continued last year, when a number of new personalities appeared, especially in the online space, who gained their supporters. According to the report, this anti-establishment movement represents a “melting pot” of citizens who are dissatisfied with various social, political or economic events.
According to the ministry, the movement in 2023 purposefully abused the topics of price increases, the energy and migration crisis, Russian aggression towards Ukraine or even the conflict in the Middle East. However, according to the insiders, its weakness is its “fragmentation” and the absence of a political program, even so, some activists managed to gain the trust of citizens with the help of disinformation and conspiracy theories.
According to the report, racist and xenophobically motivated expressions continued to appear in the Internet environment. They were mainly directed against migrants, Roma, Ukrainians, Muslims, Jews or the LGBT+ community. In total, the police dealt with 181 crimes with an extremist connotation last year, 32 more than the previous year. 28 people were prosecuted.
Tags: Report extremism Czech extremists dominated antisystem movement
