Experts from 11 countries discussed nationalism and xenophobia in Budapest in the context of refugee "crisis"
Sixty experts, scholars, students and professionals from 11 countries mostly from Central and Eastern Europe gathered in Budapest on 3 and 4 November to address effects of the "refugee crisis" on the radical and mainstream politics, recent trends of public attitudes to refugees in the region and civil and grassroots responses to the rise of radical nationalism in Central European countries.
The event was organised by the Foundation of Subjective Values from Budapest in frame of the project called "Debating New Phenomena of Refugee Migration in Central Europe" (DRM), which is a Central European initiative coordinated by OPU - Organisation for Aid to Refugees. Some of the most worrying trends discussed in the conference included the unwillingness to prosecute and sanction hate crime and hate speech, xenophobia and Islamphobia frequently expressed and exploited by politicians as well as attacks on Muslim and other minorities in our countries well manifested in the "Map of anti-migrant violence, hatred and sentiment in Europe" presented by ENAR. On the other hand, the experts presented a number of examples of good projects and campaigns to address the growing nationalism in Central Europe. The next international conference under the DRM Central Europe project will take a look at the role of media, journalists and propaganda and will take place in Prague on 26 and 27 January 2017.
