Czech Republic to set up anti-terrorism center

A specialised center for terrorism and hybrid threats will be set up in the Czech Republic and will start operation in 2017, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said in a press release on Thursday.

According to Chovanec, the center will have about 30 experts, who will be commissioned to prevent the spread of untrue information and propaganda. He said some of the experts will focus on analysing disinformation released by open sources, including social networks.

Chovanec said the first results of the country's security audit shows that the state must have a center to comprehensively monitor terrorism and hybrid threats and foreign power's propaganda.

Chovanec said extremism, migration and water shortages caused by droughts are the biggest threats the country is facing.

Several months ago, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka asked the Interior Ministry to carry out the national security audit. The first results of the audit have been completed so far. Apart from the audit, Sobotka called for enhanced capacities of the police, military and intelligence, and improved protection of the country's international airports.

Upon completion, the security audit will have 11 chapters focusing on particular threats. Five of them have been preliminarily closed for the time being. They focus on extremism, terrorism, security aspects of migration and anthropogenic and natural threats.

The remaining six areas of the audit is expected to be completed by the end of the summer before the material is submitted to the government. Endit