Press: Czech neo-Nazis planning biggest ever meeting

Czech neo-Nazis are planning to hold their biggest ever gathering on August 16, Lidové noviny reported. One of its organisers told the newspaper they were expecting five to six thousand people to attend a so-called “musical-political afternoon”, at an as yet undisclosed location in east Bohemia. The date of the planned event is the anniversary of the death of leading Nazi Rudolf Hess.

Experts on extremism have told the Czech Press Agency they believe the Czech far right is planning to try to enter politics at the national level. The neo-Nazis long-term strategy involves a concerted effort to not break the law in order to gain broader support with an eye to eventually entering Parliament, a member of the Czech Helsinki Committee said. The Interior Ministry recently said it would put more energy into monitoring far-right groups.

Author: Ian Willoughby