CVEK

The Radicalisation Prevention Mechanism is the result of the work of experts from the Centre for Research on Ethnicity and Culture, other experts from various institutions working on the prevention of radicalisation of young people at the local level, and active young people who have been involved in its development.

The reason why we decided to create this document is our desire to help local actors to deal with the increasing social tensions that affect young people in particular. We believe that the best way to deal with radicalisation is to implement the most effective prevention and support activities for young people that respond to their needs and prevent them from resorting to hate speech and extremism. At the same time, if the first signs start to emerge that young people are becoming radicalised, it is necessary to have effective mechanisms in place to respond to this situation.

The mechanism should serve all actors at local level, i.e. municipalities, schools, police, NGOs, youth clubs, counselling facilities and others who see the urgency of the problem of radicalisation of young people, perceive the need to address it, but have not yet found a way to act.

The mechanism for prevention of radicalisation of young people at the local level was created as part of the project ‘Mechanism for prevention of radicalisation and extremism-police and youth together’, which is supported by the ACF-Slovakia programme, funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. The administrator of the programme is the Ekopolis Foundation in partnership with the Open Society Foundation Bratislava and the Karpatská nadácia (Carpathian Foundation).

This analysis is the first output of the project entitled “A part for all – promoting participation of young people from diverse groups”, which we have been implementing at CVEK since the beginning of May 2022.

At CVEK, we have been working on the topic of participation of different minority groups for several years now, pointing out that the involvement of diverse groups in policy-making, but also more generally in the life of society, is key to creating a cohesive society. Young people from different minority groups or groups that can be perceived as vulnerable are at an even greater disadvantage than young people in general in terms of participation and having their voices heard.

Meanwhile, young people have faced many challenges in recent years that previous generations did not face. The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, inflation, the growing influence of social networks and disinformation, significant social changes – all these are issues that have a much more significant impact on young people, and especially on young people from minority backgrounds.

In our current project, we focus on young Roma men and women, young people from the LGBTI+ community, young foreigners, young people with disabilities and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Bratislava and its surroundings. Our aim is to empower young people from minority backgrounds and help them develop their skills so that they can actively participate in their neighbourhoods and communities.

In the first phase of the project, we conducted research to understand the situation and perceptions of young people from minority backgrounds and to give them a voice. The findings from the research are included in this analysis. In the interviews we explored four themes: perceptions and experiences of their own minority identity, trust in institutions and perceptions of support from institutions, experiences of social exclusion and experiences of participation.

The project “A part for all – promoting participation of diverse young people” is supported by the Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 2: Collaborative Partnerships.

Within the framework of the project Mechanism for the prevention of radicalisation – young people and the police together, in addition to quantitative research and focus groups with young people, we also conducted individual semi-structured interviews with representatives of institutions that deal with the topic of radicalisation prevention.

Our aim is to know the undercurrents and factors that influence extremism and radicalisation among young people. Therefore, our interviews with representatives of various institutions focused primarily on their own perceptions of the phenomenon, the factors that influence it and the social situation that may influence young people to take the extremist side. We also focused on the topic of trust in institutions and young people’s voice, which have been shown in various research to be important factors related to this topic.

In our research, we also looked at the challenges we face as a country on the topic of radicalization and how the state approaches it through its policies and legislative settings, or by supporting different organizations in implementing prevention programs.

An important part of the research was also to learn about the specific activities of individual organisations and institutions in order to implement the project effectively in its next phases and to build on what is already working in practice.

This publication is therefore a basic analysis of the institutional perspective on the topic of preventing radicalisation of young people.

This publication is published as part of the project ‘Mechanism for the Prevention of Radicalisation and Extremism-Police and Youth Together’, which is supported by the ACF-Slovakia programme, funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. The programme is managed by the Ekopolis Foundation in partnership with the Open Society Foundation Bratislava and the Carpathian Foundation.

The book brings interesting findings allow us to see coexistence in diverse society from both expert and humane point of view. It is a result of a two year long research project focused on integration of foreigners in Slovakia. The project entailed two representative quantitative surveys (among foreigners and majority population), one questionnaire survey among municipal offices of district capitals, 58 individual interviews with local leve integration actors, 9 focus groups with majority population and 50 individual interviews with foreigners living in Slovakia. 

This research mosaic thus explores integration of foreigners comprehensively from different perspectives. It shows that public institutions are not ready to actively work towards integration of foreigners. Migrants remain invisible for public policies. Majority population sees migration as a threat rather than an opportunity. Contacts with foreigners, however, help change these attitudes to a great extent and contribute to peaceful coexistence. For foreigners, Slovakia is a nice and peaceful country offering opportunities to live a good life. It has potential to grow which is, however, hampered by our closemindedness towards diversity.

The project “Integration of foreigners – researching barriers, instruments and attitudes is co-funded by the European Union from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. Internal Security Fund.

Refugee children, who may already be starting to attend Slovak schools, find themselves in a situation they never knew could happen just a few days or weeks ago. They have had to leave their home from one day to the next and find themselves in a country that many of them have never even heard of. They may be experiencing trauma and be under a great deal of stress from having left their homes so quickly. We have prepared some principles and recommendations for schools on how to deal with this situation, at least in the beginning.