Crisis in the north costing taxpayers millions

Police reinforcements in the north are costing taxpayers close to a million crowns a day, according to police spokesman Jan Melsa. Riot police units, psychologists and mediators were sent to the hotspots of racial tension in the north such as Varnsdorf and Rumburk in mid-August when extremist groups started organizing anti-Roma marches and demonstrations on weekends.

Government officials and local councils are working to defuse tension and address long-neglected problems but there has so far been little sign of tangible progress. The cost of police reinforcements in the area has so far amounted to 30 million crowns - at a time when the cash strapped interior ministry budget can ill afford it.