Native-born clean-skins

Chairman Jan Fischer of the Statistical Office told Czech Radio yesterday that if it weren't for foreigners, the population of the CR would be declining and the country would face serious social problems. The comment came on the same day as reports that "clean-skins" - first-time terrorists not known to the security forces - were responsible for the London attacks. A leading issue now is how to deal with such homegrown terrorists who were born and raised on European soil and who have no evident link to terrorism. The CR, with only 250,000 foreigners, hasn't paid much attention to the immigration issue so far. Like the rest of Europe, though, it will have to decide whether resolving the social problem caused by a thinning of the indigenous population is worth the risk of opening the door wider to newcomers and producing more native-born clean-skins.