Czech Interior Ministry says anti-system movements are weakening, neo-Nazis moving online, Okamura's SPD inciting tensions
The Czech Interior Ministry has published its summary report on extremism for the second half of 2024. According to the report, the anti-system movements are becoming attenuated while the influence of online radicalization is growing, especially in right-wing extremist circles.
A significant part of those extremist and populist groups continue to support the regime in Russia and to spread its propaganda. The ministry said physical violence and mass meetings organized to disrupt public order are still not frequent.
However, there has been an increase in security risks related to attacks on democratic institutions and hybrid threats. “Through their activities, most extremist and populist/xenophobic entities have been facilitating the hybrid operations of foreign countries targeting our republic. If we were to underestimate this risk or even trivialize it, there could be fatal impacts for the Czech Republic,” Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (Mayors and Independents – STAN) said in a press release.
Online radicalization as a growing threat
The biggest security risk, according to the report, is still online radicalization, because it can involve people who would otherwise never join an extremist or xenophobic group. According to the Interior Ministry, the online platforms of right-wing extremists pose a significant danger in that regard.
“In the neo-Nazi environment, radicalization transpires in the online space through ideas promoting the acceleration of societal transformations through direct violent action,” described the ministerial press spokesperson, Adam Rözler. According to him, the potential to spread such ideas is also being multiplied by the fact that representatives of right-wing ideologies have managed to infiltrate gaming communities.
According to the report, information is also appearing about displays of radicalization or sympathies toward right-wing extremism in Czech schools.
The anti-system scene is fading, the SPD movement is inciting social tensions
During the second half of 2024, the activities of the anti-system movements which either directly deny the Czech Republic’s existence and legitimacy or which gradually present various conspiracy theories became attenuated. According to the report, the reason was primarily the criminal proceedings some of their representatives had to face.
That fact set up certain boundaries for the scene and led to a gradual decline in its influence. “While during the first half of 2024 the scene reached its limits, in the second half of the year its protagonists started to gradually be forgotten,” Rözler said.
According to the ministry, populist/xenophobic entities, including the “Freedom and Direct Democracy” (SPD) movement, have been intentionally inciting social tensions. The SPD did so, for instance, through its campaign ads, which the Regional Court in Brno found morally depraved and xenophobic, exceeding the bounds of decency, and underestimating voter intelligence.
The SPD movement has also joined the new faction in the European Parliament (EP) called “Europe of Sovereign Nations”, initiated by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which had previously been excluded from the EP’s Identity and Democracy faction on suspicion of corruption, disseminating pro-Russian propaganda, and ties to China. The SPD also invited the Junge Alternative organization to Prague, which German authorities have categorized as right-wing extremist, and SPD chair Tomio Okamura presented the movement’s activities to Junge Alternative members in the Chamber of Deputies, including the SPD’s controversial election campaign ads.
Other extremist activities
During the period under review, the right-wing extremist scene did not undertake any significant public actions in the Czech Republic. “Traditional neo-Nazis continued to just meet privately and did not hold any public events. In response to the attenuation of the domestic scene, some are paying more attention to the activities of their counterparts abroad. Police continued to address isolated illegal behaviors of individuals espousing the neo-Nazi movement or expressing sympathy for the Nazi regime,” the report on extremism says.
For instance, the Prague 5 Office of the Public Prosecutor indicted the longtime neo-Nazi and representative of a group called Národní obroda [National Revival], Pavel Matějný, for illegal arms possession; incitement of criminal activity; perpetrating violence against a group and its individual members; defamation of an ethnic, national, racial or other group; and establishing, promoting and supporting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. The neo-Nazi veteran had threatened on social media to join in the farmers’ protest in front of the Office of the Government by bringing his machine gun.
Police searched Matějný’s home and found a functional, illegally-possessed, loaded assault rifle there. The indictment also takes into account his hateful, racist online posts.
The report also mentions the activities of anarchist and ultra-left groups. According to the Interior Ministry, the anarchist movement concentrated primarily on the events in the Middle East during the second half of last year.
The report said orthodox communists are a “stable, longstanding, ideologically unwavering” part of the “fifth column” that has arisen in the Czech Republic with the support of Russian security forces. According to the Interior Ministry, the community of Czech Muslims is moderate.
“Nevertheless, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the spreading of Islamist online propaganda represent the main risks for the eventual radicalization of individuals,” the ministry said.
Hate crime statistics
For 2024 as a whole, police recorded 159 crimes motivated by hatred and prosecuted 119 persons. Most often the crimes were threats and violence against a group and its individual members (54 cases).
Other frequently-committed crimes were defamation of an ethnic, national or racial group (19 cases), and incitement of hatred (46 cases). The highest number of incidents were recorded in Prague (72 cases), followed by the South Moravian Region (12 cases) and the Central Bohemian Region (10).
The victims most often targeted for hate crimes were Ukrainians (71 cases), followed by Jews (33 cases), Romani people (17 cases) and the LGBT+ community (14 cases).
What you need to know
The anti-system movement is weakening, some of its representatives face prosecution, which has led to their activities attenuating.
Neo-Nazis are moving online, where young people are being radicalized by them, including in the online gaming communities they have infiltrated.
The SPD is inciting social tensions, its election campaign ads were categorized by a court as populist and xenophobic.
Support for Russian propaganda is growing, extremists are exploiting hybrid threats to undermine democratic institutions.
Police record 159 crimes motivated by hatred in the second half of 2024, most of which were perpetrated against Ukrainians, Jews, Roma and the LGBT+ community.
