Former Czech PM suggests roundtable with parliamentary parties and Roma representatives

Former Czech PM Jiří Paroubek, now the chair of the National Socialist – 21st Century Left party (Národní socialisté – levice 21. století or NS LEV21) has called on politicians to start finally resolving the problem of coexistence between Czechs and Roma together with representatives of the Romani community. "Another weekend of anti-Romani protests and clashes with police indicates there are enormous tensions in Czech society," Paroubek said of the recent attempted pogrom against Romani people in České Budějovice.

Paroubek also warned of these tensions after a previous anti-Romani march in Duchcov (Ústí Region) and warned against the escalation of such protests in more places throughout the country. "A round table should be created at the level of both chambers of parliament for negotiations between representatives of the Romani community and all of the parties represented in the Parliament of the Czech Republic. This problem must be constructively resolved by politicians, not with nightsticks and rocks," the NS LEV21 chair said.

"This completely ill-conceived, short-term use of force by the state cannot lead to any successful resolutions. Once again, I call for us to start adressing this issue at a conceptual level, irrespective of differences of opinion or our membership in the majority or minority. We should not wait until the first serious injuries are sustained or the first lives are lost. I have been in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the Romani minority and I know there is a significant proportion of decent people among them who are interested in change the current state of affairs," Paroubek warned, adding that demonstrators are now openly attacking police.

"Failure to resolve this situation might simply lead to the significant strengthening of various extremist parties and of  contempt for this country’s democratic order. That must be prevented," Paroubek said.

The former PM sees the only possible resolution as lying in a long-term concept that will be applied to socially excluded groups in the population. "We must give maximum assistance to those groups that are interested in working. We must pay thorough attention to children’s school attendance. We must create work opportunities. We must appropriately resolve the issue of social housing. There is no need to invent new processes, we can draw inspiration from abroad," Paroubek explained.

Last year the National Socialists presented a very elaborate program for the fight against crime and social exclusion. Those proposed measures, although they were designed for the situation in the Ústí Region, could be applied practically anywhere, in Paroubek’s view.

"Our program solution is freely available online and can basically be used by anyone. It’s better to take advantage of someone else’s program than to do nothing at all," Paroubek said.