Resume
PEGIDA – Security Threat or Challenge for the EU?
doc. Ing. Dr. Štefan Danics, Ph.D., Faculty PA Security Management of the Czech Republic in Prague, Department of Social Sciences
The author wants to turn our attention to the movement PEGIDA which is gaining popularity among “German patriots” in various parts of Germany and which is representing general dissatisfaction with the present government policy. The movement criticizes the erosion of the traditional values within the German society, but also in the European Union. Liberal migration policy and problems with the integration of Muslim community are the most criticized issues. The biggest mass protests of PEGIDA are held in Dresden, but they are also organized in other German cities. We can observe a phenomenon of “pegidization of the EU”. However, German mass media inform about PEGIDA as about a xenophobic and far-right movement. The concept of anti-establishment party will be a theoretic and methodological basis of the paper and will be applied on the PEGIDA protest movement. Based on the anti-establishment opposition the paper will consider whether PEGIDA represents a security threat or challenge not only for Germany, but also for the whole of Europe.
Keywords: PEGIDA, pegidization of the EU, anti-Islamic movement, xenophobic movement, far-right movement, sociologic profile of PEGIDA follower, PEGIDA as a security threat or challenge for the EU.