Prague - Norway has never been used to significant immigration, so the reaction to it is much stronger than in the countries with history of immigration waves, said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg about the shocking bombing attack and shooting spree that took place in Norway on Friday 22 July 2011.
Anders Breivik, the 32-year old man who confessed to the attacks, said he committed them in the name of "the fight against Muslim immigration".
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The head of the Czech diplomacy said there is no doubt that there are negative reactions to immigration in all European states. However, Norway was a closed society for thousands of years, unlike for example the Mediterranean countries, said Schwarzenberg in an interview with Aktualne.cz, a Czech on-line daily.
It was only in the last decades when Norway started to receive large numbers of immigrants, the minister added.
Schwarzenberg also believes that the Czech Republic is currently facing no real threat of xenophobic violence similar to that in Norway.
"We are in lesser danger, because there has been no larger immigration. The only issue that has already led to horrible acts in our country is linked to the Roma minority. There has been several murders. Let's not forget that we, Czechs, are not totally innocent in this. The public awareness could be raised in a larger and stronger manner, in the next decades the immigration will increase in our country too," said the minister, who sent his condolences to Norway on Saturday.
The minister said in the interview that the attack was a lonely act of a mentally deranged person who has spent some time in extremist circles. Schwarzenberg linked the attack to the recent shootings in the USA or Germany.
According to the minister, such acts cannot be prevented. "We cannot keep an eye on every lunatic. When somebody goes insane, he goes insane. And it is always unexpected. You cannot watch them all. We can try to control the breeding ground, but there are very small groups which will slip through. It is not possible to control it totally. You need to realize that this can happen everywhere and you cannot rule out the possibility that there will be someone who will try to copy that ill-fated person."
When asked about what can be done over the issue of immigration and xenophobia, Scharzenberg said that "there is no exact formula," explaining that the authorities need to educate both sides - the native population and immigrants. "It is necessary to encourage the immigrants to adapt as much as possible, to send their children to school, to learn the language, and not to close themselves off. On the other hand, the local population needs to be educated too."
