Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

   česky      english     

Advanced search

Skip to menu

Countering Terrorism

 

In accordance with its Security Strategy of 2015, the Czech Republic ranks terrorism among the security threats to the country and its allies.

The Czech Republic works actively for the combatting of all forms of terrorism both at the national level and through its involvement in international organisations, including in the process of negotiating and implementing anti-terrorist conventions. Its priorities include measures to counter terrorist financing, radicalisation and recruitment, and to protect the population, critical infrastructure and other targets potentially vulnerable to terrorist attack.

The Czech Republic adopts systematic preventive and legislative measures in accordance with the EU Counterterrorism Strategy.

Within NATO, the Czech Republic helps support the fight against terrorism by sharing intelligence information, developing response capabilities, broadening consultations with partners, and actively participating in NATO operations and missions.

Within the EU, the Czech Republic contributes to the formulation of specific counter-terrorism measures aimed to strengthen cooperation, both among the EU member states and with non-EU countries.

The Czech Republic seeks to consistently detect and prosecute manifestations of extremism, including xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance and discrimination.

(Security Strategy of the Czech Republic, 2015, para. 56 – 59)

 

The Czech Republic strongly condemns all acts of violent extremism and terrorism regardless of their motive and actively engages in the fight against terrorism both at home and abroad.

As some terrorist groups are capable of spreading their influence across national or even continental borders, international cooperation is the condition for a successful fight against terrorism. The Czech Republic perceives its engagement in the international efforts as an expression of solidarity with the countries directly affected by terrorism, as well as a response to a security threat that may affect the security situation in the Czech territory. It participates in activities to support third countries which face terrorism in strengthening their security and defence capabilities.

The Czech Republic considers it crucial that the counter-terrorism measures be implemented in full compliance with the European Union's core values, including the rule of law, and in full compliance with international law. The Czech Republic also believes that the provision of humanitarian and development aid aimed, among other, at reducing the negative economic and social factors in different parts of the world, which may lead to radicalization and terrorism, forms an integral part of a comprehensive approach to the fight against terrorism.

The Czech Republic has engaged in counter-terrorism activities within the United Nations, the North Atlantic Alliance, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international organizations of which it is a member. Since 2014, the Czech Republic has been part of the Global Coalition against Daesh, and is also involved in the so-called "Small Group", a narrower format of this group.

Within the European Union, the Czech Republic supports intensive cooperation and coordination of the EU with international organizations (the UN and NATO in particular), strategic partners, especially the USA, and with the Global Coalition against Daesh. The Czech Republic considers the European Union's active approach to security within the Common Foreign and Security Policy / Common Security and Defence Policy to be an essential part of its efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism. It supports maximising the use of EU´s external instruments and tools, such as high-level counter-terrorism dialogues aiming for cooperation with third countries and international organizations, enhancing the network of counter-terrorism experts in EU Delegations and, where relevant, deployment of EU missions and operations.

On 14 May 2021, the Czech Republic officially joined the so-called Christchurch Call initiative. This call was initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, following an Australian gunman's attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, in which 51 people died and 50 others were injured. The call requests that steps be taken to prevent a recurrence of a similar situation where terrorist content is spread massively online, and to prevent the misuse of the Internet for the purposes of terrorism and violent extremism.


Other useful links:

Centre against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats of the Ministry of the Interior

Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF)

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

Participation of the Czech Republic in military missions - website of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic

.