Experts on the far right and terrorism agree the killing of Matúš Horváth (23) and Juraj Vankulič (27) on October 12 was a terrorist attack, wrote the Dennik N daily. As its website mentiones, the manifesto of the 19-year-old murderer is mainly a hateful pamphlet accusing Jews of world domination. They agree that the shooter was not radicalised under the influence of Slovak extremists, but on his own in a virtual environment while playing video games and on foreign conspiracy forums - not only among American, but also Russian neo-Nazis.
"The very title of the manifesto, A Call to Arms, is mobilizing," says for the dialy Kacper Rekawek, an expert on terrorism from the University of Oslo.
According to Oxford professor of modern history Roger Griffin, cited by the DenníkN, the difference between a hate crime and a terrorist attack by saying that there is an ideology behind terrorism. Griffin pointed to the fact that the murderer wanted to send a message to others, to society, in order to change social or political conditions.
"The attacker is trying to explain with the manifesto that he does not have a mental disorder, that this is not violence for violence's sake, but that it is in fact a political struggle, the aim of which in this case is the liberation of the white race, which is under a key attack from the Jews," Jan Charvát, a political scientist who specializes in political extremism, explained to Deník N.
The victims of shooting were two members of LGBTI+ minority in from of gay bar. However, the murderer wrote very little about this community in his manifesto, only that he encounters them in his neighbourhood. Therefore, Professor Griffin says his attack is very confusing - as there is no clear link between his anti-Semitic manifesto and the attack.
"I have never seen such a confused act of terrorism," concludes Griffin for the Denník N daily.
Source: Denník N
