Public debate “How to defend democracy against extremism” took place in Bardejov, in Hrubá bašta (The Robust Bastion), on 29 June 2017 as part of the project Focused on Extremism. The event was organized by the Institute for Public Affairs in cooperation with the Bardejov Community Foundation (KNBJ). Speakers included Grigorij Mesežnikov (political scientist), Radovan Bránik (political and security analyst) and Péter Hunčík (psychiatrist). Discussion was moderated by Jozef Jarina, executive director of KNBJ.

In the discussion, Grigorij Mesežnikov focused on the definition of extremism as a political stream as well as on the process of forming the conditions for the operation of the right-extremist groupings in the period of social transformation in the Slovak Republic. Péter Hunčík dealt with the phenomenon of personal and group frustration as factor acting in favor of radicals and extremists. Radovan Bránik pointed out the unsolved social problems (corruption, social inequality) as breeding soil for extremism, he also addressed the international context and relations between radicals in individual states.

Invitation in PDF



Newspaper article: Bardejovský reportér - V Bašte bránili demokraciu


Discussion on June 29, 2017 in Bardejov. From the left: Péter Hunčík, Radovan Bránik, Grigorij Mesežnikov, Jozef Jarina