The Praguer Zeitung (2013) reports new anti-Rroma pogroms in the Czech Republic. In Vítkov, about three hundred protesters, many of them from the right-wing came together to demonstrate “for the rights of all decent citizens.” The demonstrators denounced the racism against the white population and propagated slogans such as “the Czech Republic for Czechs”. With several arson attacks on Rroma four years ago, Vítkov has become a symbol for anti-Romany actions.

Schmidt (2013) also draws a gloomy picture of the relation of ethnic Czechs towards Rroma: There were again anti Rroma pogroms in Vitkov this Saturday. Particularly insidious is the fact that the Hungarian railways even provided extra trains for demonstrators of the radical right. In Vitkov, several Rroma were victims of arson attacks four years ago. A girl suffered serious burn injuries and barely survived. She now suffers from persistent anxiety states. Schmidt sees the pogroms as an indication of a worrysome state: The negative attitude towards Roma is supported by a significant part of the Czech majority society: “When the Neonazis sit again in their trains, native “whites” still shout anti-Roma slogans. Normal people, pensioners, families with children. An elderly woman says “The speakers at the rally were right,” about the rioting extreme rightists, and she feels “disturbed” by the Roma she adds. It is not an isolated case.” When open hatred towards Rroma is experiencing wider social support, democracy is threatened in the Czech Republic, as stated by the Czech domestic intelligence agency. Sociologists see the sources of this increasingly socially acceptable  xenophobia among others during the economic crisis: The insecurity on livelihoods of a large middle and lower classes fed the idea that Rroma were coddled by the state.

According to Amnesty International (2013), the European Centre for Human Rights identified nine anti-Rroma pogroms in the Czech Republic since April this year. Several instances are concerned about the increasing animosity towards Rroma in the Czech Republic.

• Amnesty International (2013) République tchèque. Il faut protéger les Roms qui risquent d’être victimes de violences avant le début des manifestations d’extrême droite. In: Amnesty International France online vom 2.8.2013.
• Prager Zeitung (2013) Erneuter Aufmarsch gegen Roma. In: Prager Zeitung online vom 7.8.2013.
• Schmidt, Hans-Jörg (2013) In Tschechien eskaliert der Hass gegen die Roma. In: Die Welt online vom 4.8.2013.