Petra Edelmannová is proud to be Czech. So much so, in fact, that she co-founded the right-wing National Party — officially registered since 2002 — that places Czech national interests at the top of its platform.

She wants a tighter immigration policy, a greater emphasis on traditional values and greater autonomy for the Czech Republic, which essentially translates to leaving the European Union. She says the country needs to promote nationalism more, and even conservative political parties like the Civic Democrats aren't doing enough on this front.

But many Czechs view the party's platform as xenophobic and racist, and in recent days the party has been all over the Czech papers, surrounded by controversy in connection with what some say is its refusal to acknowledge World War II atrocities affecting the country's Roma, or Gypsy, population.

For the nationalists' part, they are striving hard to present themselves as a legitimate political movement rather than a bunch of extremists.

"Czechs should never be ashamed of being Czech," Edelmannová said. "I am a nationalist and I'm proud of it."

If, as Edelmannová says, today's political parties are not doing enough to promote patriotism, it seems that, according to preference polls, the majority of Czechs don't agree.

The National Party, which Edelmannová now chairs, has always been better at garnering controversy than at attracting voters. The party has no seats in Parliament and political analysts say it has little chance to make any headway in the upcoming general election.

Concentration-camp controversy

The recent controversy started with a memorial stone that the party placed on the site near a pig farm in Lety where a concentration camp used to stand during World War II.

More than 300 Roma died there, but the National Party denies that it was an extermination camp. The party says it was a labor camp, where the interned Roma died through their own fault because of poor hygiene.

The stone was to originally bear a plaque saying as much. At the last minute the Nationalist Party decided to only post a sign saying "to the victims." But the municipality had the sign removed, just days after its installation.

The party says the controversy surrounding the memorial is a witch hunt led by the Czech media.

The 'patriotic' parent

Edelmannová is a bit of a political anomaly. At just 30 years old, the attractive, petite blonde, who is currently on maternity leave with her 2-month-old daughter, Tereza Anna, is the youngest party chairman in the country.

She studied political science at the University of Economics in Prague and is currently working toward finishing her doctoral thesis on nationalist parties and movements in the Czech Republic.

Before taking time off to care for her daughter, she worked as a banker.

On a recent afternoon, Edelmannová sat in a dingy pub in Kolovraty, a suburb of Prague where she now lives with her new family, and explained why she thinks nationalism is so important.

She chose her statements carefully in a brittle, high voice. Whenever asked about her personal life, her answers became curt and vague, and when pressed on accusations of racism, she avoided taking the issue head-on.

Across from Edelmannová sat Dušan Kučera, first deputy chairman of the party, ready to interject if any point of the discussion needed further explaining. To her right was her young daughter, sleeping undisturbed in a baby carriage.

As a new mother, Edelmannová said she is particularly bothered that Czech schools don't focus enough on national values and traditions. According to Edelmannová, young Czechs today don't place much emphasis on their nationality. She cited a study that found that a large proportion of young people here feel more European than Czech. Edelmannová said that may be because Czechs feel ashamed of their country.

"Our membership in the European Union bypassed our Czechness," she said.

In fact, it was the Czech Republic's efforts to join the EU that propelled Edelmannová to help establish the National Party. Edelmannová strongly disagreed with this membership.

"Creating some sort of Euro-regions is not a good thing," she said. "We have our own longstanding traditions that we need to preserve."

Against immigrants

It is this last point that hints at why the National Party has attracted the fury of civil rights organizations and minority groups.

Edelmannová openly proclaims that a major threat to preserving Czech traditions are immigrants, many of whom, she says, adapt poorly and end up as unemployed disruptive elements in the society.

"Immigration needs to be more strictly regulated," she said. "We can't just hand out citizenships like on a conveyor belt."

But what about the country's aging population? Don't most demographers agree that the Czech Republic needs immigrants, if only to remain economically viable?

"I don't agree," she said. "Replacing the Czech population by increasing the number of immigrants isn't a good idea."

Too many immigrants, Edelmannová says, could eventually lead to riots similar to those that took place in France last fall.

"We can't let in just anybody, without making sure that they will respect the values of our country and assimilate to their new environment."

According to Edelmannová, rather than letting in more immigrants, the government should be doing all it can to help increase the birthrate among its citizens.