Czech Republic – Eye on Islamism

Hundreds of schools hit by Islamist bomb scare in anti-migration Hungary PM Orbán: 'If we had allowed migrants in, we would not be facing threats, but acts of terrorism.'

January 24, 2025 Zoltán Kottász

(European Conservative) Bomb threats targeting 292 schools across Hungary caused widespread evacuations and the cancellation of classes on Thursday, January 23rd. Police conducted thorough searches of the affected institutions, but no explosive devices were found, allowing pupils to return to school on […]

Czechia considers criminalizing pro-Palestine slogan amid rising tensions Officials say that Hamas and affiliated groups use the saying 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' to promote the destruction of Israel.

November 16, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Expats.cz) A host of Czech officials have determined that the use of the pro-Palestine slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” might constitute a criminal offense in specific circumstances. The Czech Interior Ministry, police, top state prosecutor’s office, […]

Germany increases border patrols along migrant ‘smuggling routes’ to Poland and Czech Republic

September 27, 2023 Kirsten Grieshaber

(AP) Germany announced Wednesday it will increase police patrols along “smuggling routes” on the border with Poland and the Czech Republic in an effort to prevent more migrants from entering the country. The new measures would begin immediately, said Interior Minister Nancy […]

Czech police break up an international ring smuggling at least 1,000 migrants to western Europe

June 27, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) Czech police said Tuesday that they have broken up an international ring suspected of smuggling migrants from Turkey to western Europe. A total of 14 suspects — 13 foreigners whose countries of origin were not specified and a Czech [citizen] — […]

Czechia passes law to stop spreading terrorist content online The new law implements [an] EU directive meant to prevent people from spreading images of attacks or executions.

February 23, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Expats.cz) President Miloš Zeman signed a bill against spreading terrorist content online into law yesterday, the Presidential Office reported. Under the new law, the police will be able to order Czech and European internet service providers (ISPs) to block terrorist content, such […]

Czechs to end checks at Slovak border amid migration decline

February 1, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) The Czech Republic’s government will end checks on the country’s border with Slovakia that were renewed last year amid a new increase in migration, officials said Wednesday. The measure has been in place since Sept. 29 at 27 border crossings between […]

US charges alleged Iran-backed assassins in NYC murder plot

January 27, 2023 Steven Nelson and Caitlin Doornbos

(NY Post) The Justice Department on Friday charged three Azerbaijani gangsters with plotting to murder a Brooklyn-based Iranian-American author and activist last year. The case stems from the July arrest of Khalid Mehdiyev, who was collared near Masih Alinejad’s home with an assault rifle after the beefy and […]

EU drafts plan to share migrant influx — voluntarily A draft document seen by POLITICO, which is still under discussion, proposes a voluntary relocation of at least 5,000 or 10,000 migrants a year.

October 27, 2022 Jacopo Barigazzi

(Politico) The EU is discussing a proposal for countries to voluntarily relocate a minimum of 5,000 or 10,000 migrants a year, according to a draft document seen by POLITICO. The proposal is being crafted by the Czech Republic, which currently holds the […]

Hungary, Austria and Serbia work together to stem migration

October 3, 2022 Kirsten Grieshaber and Jovana Gec

(AP) The leaders of Hungary, Austria and Serbia met Monday in Budapest to find solutions on how to stem the increasing number of migrants arriving in Europe, among them many young men from India. The three leaders agreed to take joint action […]

Czech police nab smugglers in new border checks as migrant flows spike

September 29, 2022 Radovan Stoklasa and Jiri Skacel

(Reuters) Czech police chasing a vanload of migrants fired warning shots on Thursday as they began checks on the border with Slovakia to combat a sharp rise in people, mostly Syrians, heading illegally to western Europe. Police intercepted over 100 migrants and […]

Austria to launch checks at Slovak border to stop migrants

September 28, 2022 Kirsten Grieshaber

(AP) Austria announced Wednesday that it will start checking travel documents at its border with Slovakia following a similar decision by the Czech Republic to keep migrants from entering without authorization. The checks were set to start at midnight Wednesday and initially […]

Czechs to renew border checks amid new migrant wave

September 27, 2022 Unlisted Author

(AP) The Czech government has decided to renew checks at its border with Slovakia amid a new wave of migration. The new measure becomes effective on Thursday at 27 border crossings between the two European Union countries that belong to Europe’s visa-free […]

Austria police smash int’l ring smuggling Syrians

May 12, 2022 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Police have smashed a group believed to have smuggled tens of thousands of Syrians with two of them found suffocated in a van last year, Austria’s interior ministry announced on Thursday. A total of 205 people suspected to be linked to […]

Central European nations back Poland in migration dispute

November 23, 2021 Justin Spike

(AP) The leaders of three Central European countries on Tuesday expressed their solidarity with Poland in an ongoing migration crisis on its eastern border with Belarus, and urged the European Union to increase its support for the protection of the bloc’s external […]

Central European leaders worry over Afghan migration ‘wave’

July 9, 2021 Unlisted Author

(AP) Central European leaders on Friday voiced concern over what they said was a potential migration rush from Afghanistan as U.S. and NATO forces pull out from that country. They also complained that a small group of powerful countries within the European […]

Case of student told to remove hijab at a Czech school comes to definitive end A Muslim student in the Czech Republic sued because she was told to remove her head covering in class.

February 1, 2021 Raymond Johnston

(Expats.cz) The Prague Municipal Court upheld a ruling by the Prague 10 District Court that halted the case of a Muslim nursing student who was not allowed to wear a hijab by her secondary school. The verdict has taken effect. The incident […]

Muslim Brotherhood fails to expand across Europe Terrorist attacks in Europe have dampened the extremists' reach

September 29, 2020 Nicky Harley

(National-UAE) Attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to expand into central and eastern Europe have failed, a report says. Terrorist attacks in Europe, including the 2015 Paris atrocity and the 2016 Brussels suicide bombings that killed dozens of people, have led to a […]

Visegrad Four grouping push back on new EU migration plan

September 24, 2020 Alicja Ptak, Anita Komuves, Robert Muller and Jan Strupczewski

(Reuters) Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia criticised on Thursday proposals for an overhaul of the European Union’s broken migration and asylum rules that are due to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit next week. After a meeting in […]

Czech MP who compared Muslim immigrants to ‘invasive species’ will not be stripped of immunity from prosecution

June 3, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Romea) On Wednesday, 27 May, after three hours of debate, the Czech lower house decided not to strip Czech MP Karla Maříková of her immunity from prosecution for her remarks made on social media about Muslim immigrants. The Chamber of Deputies’ Immunity […]

Czech court upholds former Prague Muslim leader’s conviction

May 21, 2020 Unlisted Author

(AP) A Czech appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that convicted a former Prague Muslim leader of being part of a terror group and financing terrorism, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said imam Samer Shehadeh helped […]

Top EU court says eastern states broke law by refusing to host refugees

April 2, 2020 Gabriela Baczynska

(Reuters) The European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had broken the law by refusing to host refugees to help ease the burden on southern states such as Greece and Italy after a surge in […]

Former Prague Muslim leader sentenced on terror charges

February 28, 2020 Unlisted Author

(AP) A Czech court on Friday convicted a former Prague Muslim leader of being part of a terror group and financing terrorism, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said imam Samer Shehadeh helped his brother Omar and later his brother’s […]

Prague’s former imam admits support of Islamic fighters

January 8, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Prague Morning) Former Prague imam Samer Shehadeh admitted on Tuesday that he had helped his brother and sister-in-law travel to Syria to join a terrorist organization, Jabhat Fatah as-Sham (Conquest of Syria). Along with his brother Omar and his sister-in-law Fátima Hudková, […]

Czech Supreme Court rules in favor of Somali girl barred from wearing hijab at Prague school The Czech Republic must accept and tolerate religious pluralism, and neither discriminate against any religion nor favour it unless it has a special reason, the court said

December 6, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Expats.cz) A Somali girl who wanted to wear hijab at a Prague secondary nursing school but was banned to do so in 2013 had the right to wear it, the Czech Supreme Court ruled in its verdict that has been released on […]

Former Prague imam to face court case after being charged with supporting terrorism

November 6, 2019 Tom McEnchroe

(Radio Prague) The state attorney’s office in Prague has filed an indictment against the former Prague-based Imam Samer Shehadeh, his brother, and his sister-in-law on suspicion of supporting terrorism, the Czech News Agency reported on Wednesday. The case has now been forwarded […]

2 suspects in German train attack case extradited to Austria

April 3, 2019 Unlisted Author

(AP) Czech police say they have extradited to Austria two suspects who allegedly formed a terror cell with a man detained by Austrian authorities over unsuccessful attacks on trains in Germany. They said Wednesday that the two Iraqi citizens, a 30-year-old man […]

Iraqi pair face Czech extradition to Austria over train attack

March 29, 2019 Unlisted Author

(AFP) A Czech court said Friday an Iraqi man and woman faced extradition to Austria in connection with two 2018 attacks on trains in Germany. The two were arrested at Prague airport Wednesday on a warrant issued by Austria, following Monday’s arrest […]

Czech police detain two linked to accused German railway attacker

March 28, 2019 Kirsti Knolle and Jason Hovet

(Reuters) Czech police have detained two people as suspected associates of an Iraqi citizen arrested in Austria on suspicion of carrying out attacks on the German railway, Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl said on Thursday. Czech police confirmed on their Twitter page […]

Imam who urged Czech Muslims to take up arms is fired

March 25, 2019 Unlisted Author

(AFP) The head of Prague’s Muslim community who urged Czech Muslims to acquire arms after the Christchurch attack has been sacked, the Czech Muslim Communities Centre said Monday. “Our meeting on March 24 … decided unequivocally to cancel Mr Leonid Kushnarenko’s membership […]

Prague Muslims distance themselves from chairman’s offer to help members acquire firearms

March 19, 2019 Ian Willoughby

(Radio Prague) Prague’s Muslim Community has distanced itself from statements made by its new chairman, Leonid Kušnarenko. In a video posted on his Facebook profile he offered to help members of the community to acquire firearms. He made the offer in response […]

Former head of Prague’s Muslim community cleared of promoting hate movement

February 13, 2019 Daniela Lazarová

(Radio Prague) The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic has definitively cleared Vladimír Šanka, the former head of Prague’s Muslim community, of promoting a movement aimed at suppressing rights and freedoms, in connection with the publication of a radical Islamic text. The […]

U.N. formally approves global migration pact opposed by U.S., others

December 19, 2018 Michelle Nichols

(Reuters) The United Nations General Assembly formally approved a deal on Wednesday aimed at boosting global cooperation to tackle rising migration, but the United States, Israel, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland voted against the voluntary pact. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has […]

Report: Czech Muslim community moderate, well integrated

December 16, 2018 Brian Kenety

(Radio Prague) The Muslim community in the Czech Republic is moderate and well integrated, but attacks by some politicians could lead to some being radicalised, the Ministry of Interior says in its annual report for 2017 on extremism. Extracts of the report […]

Ex-Prague imam Samer Shehadeh in custody for allegedly promoting terrorism

November 9, 2018 Brian Kenety

(Radio Prague) A former Prague-based Islamic cleric, who faces charges of supporting terrorism, has given up his right to lodge a complaint against his detention and so will remain in custody pending a trial, along with two other suspects. Imam Samer Shehadeh […]

Czech PM calls for no illegal migrants in Europe ahead of visit to Italy

August 27, 2018 Unlisted Author

(Local) Billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Monday August 27th that a comprehensive action plan is necessary to stop illegal migration, which he will address on a visit to Italy and Malta this week. “If Italy and Malta won’t welcome […]

The EU’s anti-migrant bloc is about to get a boost

July 11, 2018 Peter Laca

(Bloomberg) Czech billionaire Andrej Babis won parliamentary approval for a minority government, strengthening the group of European Union members who are challenging the bloc’s unity. As populist forces from Italy to Sweden shake the EU’s foundations and Brexit talks languish far from […]