The Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic

Security and prevention

Terrorism

Terrorism is generally defined as an illegal act or a threat intended or calculated to provoke fear or a state of terror. By means of the fear it is planned to pursue ideologically justified political goals. The current situation in the Czech Republic is calm as regards open terrorist acts. Since the formation of the Czech Republic (1993), the country has not witnessed any terrorist attack. However, there are reasonable suspicions pointing to the presence and repeated transit of contact persons working for certain foreign terrorist groups on the Czech territory as well as attempts to make use of the Czech territory for certain kinds of support to terrorism. In practical terms, the Security Policy Department is responsible for drafting and regular assessment of implementation of the National Action Plan for the Fight against Terrorism (the Plan is accessible through the Ministry's website under section „documents“), which is a summary of tasks aiming to increase the level of country's preparedness to respond to a possible terrorist attack against its interests at home and abroad. The Department prepares other analytical documents related to the issue of the fight against terrorism too. As for these documents, a good deal of work goes into the preparation of instructions for the dealings of different working groups and committees of the European Union. A continuous attention is paid to the activities that aim to improve the legislative and structural framework for the operational activities of police and intelligence agencies involved in the fight against terrorism. Other area that should be mentioned is the participation of the Department's expert in the process leading to the adherence by the Czech Republic to some of the international conventions and documents devoted to the issue of the fight against terrorism. In this context the members of the Department organize or take part in relevant meetings at home and represent the Czech Republic at the foreign meetings and conferences on the subject.

The elaboration and utilization of projects both from domestic and foreign sources has become a topical priority too (Transition Facility, twinning light, structural funds of the EU, to name but a few). All of these projects deal with particular aspects of the fight against terrorism. Activities that try to reach out to the academic circles and non-governmental sector are also on the rise.

• Documents