Prague - Following the Monday extremists' clashes with police in the northern Bohemian town of Litvínov, Czech PM Mirek Topolánek has given his support to a proposal to ban the fringe far-right Workers' Party.
The Monday march, which resulted in 16 people being injured, was organized by the Workers' Party supporters.
At the start of November Minister of Defense Ivan Langer filed a proposal to ban the Workers' Party. "I will certainly back up Ivan Langer' s proposal to ban the party," said PM Topolánek for Aktuálně.cz. "Such excessive behavior that took place in Litvínov ought to be punished severely," he added.
PM Topolánek praised the police for their adequate interference.
"I am an advocate of tough approach. These things are very dangerous. We should try to prevent any kind of excessive behavior. In this respect I am adamant the police fulfilled their task," he added.
Ban is not the answer
Should the government support Langer´s proposal, it will be the Supreme Court that will have to make a final decision.
But PM Topolánek is not fully convinced that the society´s escalating anti-Roma mood is to fade away with the ban of the Workers' Party.
"In my view it is connected to a number of processes that go much deeper. One of them is the worsening economic situation not only in the Czech Republic but in Europe in general. Other countries have seen similar attacks too. There is tension in the society," PM Topolánek said.
Talking about is not enough
PM Topolánek conceded that the problem lies with the Roma community as well. People living in the vicinity of the Janov ghetto have been long complaining about the Roma community.
"The people that came to Janov in the past few years are extremely socially deprived. They have entirely different values than the Romani that came to Janov four years ago," says Miroslav Brož of the People in Need foundation. Brož deals with the poverty issue and marginalized groups of people.
They are often in debts, says Brož, unemployable owing to a low qualification, frustrated, deprived and aggressive.
Positive discrimination
PM Topolánek believes that it is more of a social problem than a racial issue.
"We believe that one of the ways to deal with the issue is to toughen social laws and install the existential minimum system, possibly a voucher system for those who do not fulfill basic conditions. The other way, which is the only possible way in the long-term perspective, is to motivate them to get education," says PM Topolánek.
"I have long maintained that the only positive discrimination I would allow with the Roma community is in the education sector. By that I do not mean I want to make it easier for them but I want to motivate them to break the vicious cycle," he added.
