Rumburk: Kohout's demonstrations harm the atmosphere in North Bohemia

The Rumburk town hall is opposed to Sunday’s demonstrations against rising crime announced for the towns of Rumburk and Varnsdorf by convicted con artist Lukáš Kohout. The town hall has called on citizens not to participate in the demonstrations, saying they will not serve to address problems, but only to stir up conflicts.

Lukáš Kohout, the organizer of most of the eight demonstrations held so far in Varnsdorf, intends to start demonstrating on Sunday at 11 AM. The Rumburk town hall, however, believes “the demonstration being called by Mr Kohout is not intended to contribute toward addressing the situation to benefit the citizens of this town, but will merely serve to spark more unrest among the citizens and to publicize the organizer at all costs.”

“We ask the citizens of the town of Rumburk to reconsider attending this demonstration. We particularly ask parents with small children, senior citizens, and youth to be aware that their own safety could be at risk should there be a conflict between demonstrators and police,” the town hall said. The extent of the police measures planned is not yet known, but the Czech Press Agency reports that right-wing extremists are evidently not planning to attend in large numbers.

The north of Bohemia has been tense for some time. At the start of August, the situation was exacerbated by an attack committed by five Romani men wielding machetes against the customers of a gaming room in Nový Bor. Two weeks later, another inter-ethnic incident took place in Rumburk. Police reinforcements were sent to the streets of North Bohemian towns to quell unrest. Weekend after weekend, demonstrations and protest marches have been held targeting the residents of excluded localities, most of them Romani. The marches have been convened by populists and right-wing radicals and local residents have joined them. The Hate is No Solution initiative (Nenávist není řešení) has organized counter-protests against these marches and programs for the Romani children living at the residential hotels targeted by them.

The extreme right has been doing its best to exploit existing dissatisfaction in the region stemming from the frustrating, long-unaddressed economic and social situation there. Low wages and 15 % unemployment have been exacerbated by the migration of socially deprived persons from around the country into the region. The poor are heading north either spontaneously or as a result of moves organized by real estate speculators.