In the most recent report for the year 2023, however, even an attentive reader will search in vain for any mention whatsoever of Okamura. Why is that? Why is this some sad news, whatever the explanation? It’s as if one were reading two descriptions of one and the same phenomenon, each of which draws an absolutely different conclusion.
You can judge for yourselves. In its annual “Report on Extremism and Prejudiced Hatred on the Territory of the Czech Republic” for the year 2022, the Interior Ministry wrote this:
Xenophobic populist politicians and activists have long demonstrated a high degree of flexibility in their search for subject matter, or rather, for enemies. Among many of them it was possible to trace their smooth transition from criticizing alleged Islamization to criticizing alleged “COVID totalitarianism”. As of March, that subject was put on the back burner and replaced by the conflict in Ukraine. In this most recent case, the pro-Kremlin narratives are being taken up with ever-increasing intensity and are even more unambiguous. The Freedom and Direct Democracy movement, the entity that so far has no competition on the scene in that regard, has also undergone this development. The movement has anxiously guarded its dominant position there. It was the only “patriotic” entity to succeed in the local elections. It was the only such entity that managed to nominate a presidential candidate, Jaroslav Bašta, through its votes in the lower house.
What about the year 2023? The report says traditional extremist parties are on the decline.
Anti-system movements now dominate the scene. That was the headline the Interior Ministry gave to its press release about the fact that the Government on Tuesday had approved its “Report on Extremism and Prejudiced Hatred on the Territory of the Czech Republic” for 2023.
