The minister dismissed the head of the National Heritage Institute and appointed Pavel Jerie to manage it

Prague - Minister of Culture Martin Štěpánek dismissed the director of the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) Tomáš Hájek today. The management of the institute has been entrusted to the current deputy director of NPÚ, Pavel Jerieh, until a new director emerges from the competition. This was stated by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Ludmila Kadrnková.
    "The reason for the dismissal are long-standing and unresolved managerial and professional shortcomings," stated the spokesperson. However, former Minister of Culture Vítězslav Jandák never admitted any shortcomings on Hájek's part despite repeated warnings from experts. "I am not aware of any shortcomings. I tried to make the operation of the institute more efficient, of course with new people, but I now have concerns about that as well," Hájek told ČTK. According to him, NPÚ was ahead of the entire ministry in the changes it was undergoing, where no reforms were coming despite promises.
    Heritage care is not just about art historians; it involves relationships with many other artistic and other fields, which Hájek claimed to advocate. People who allegedly dislike that the long-established form of Czech heritage care should change will presumably be satisfied with his departure.
    "I was dismissed by a minister who has only a week left in office. I won the selection process, presented a concept, and started implementing it. Now I have been axed; it is cruel behavior, but I can only defend myself by applying for the director position," he added.
    Jerie became deputy in February when he replaced the dismissed Josef Štulce. Jerie has worked in this institution, or its predecessor, the State Institute of Heritage Care, since 1969.
    Hájek has long faced criticism from experts, and several petitions were created against his dismissal. The latest of these was delivered by signatories to the new Minister of Culture on September 12. "The minister argued primarily with this petition, initiated by three people from NPÚ and signed by 400 people from across the country," reminded Hájek.
    Hájek had been in office since January. The position of the head of the state heritage professionals became available after Jandák dismissed the then "one-day" director of NPÚ, longtime first deputy minister of culture Zdeněk Novák. According to unofficial information from ČTK, he is now an advisor to Minister Štěpánek. In the end, even people who were members of the expert commission that recommended Hájek to Jandák for the helm of NPÚ spoke against him.
    Jandák and Novák also dismissed ten directors of the regional expert units of the institute and thus, according to his words, initiated a reform of heritage care.
    Tomáš Hájek, a former advisor to the Minister of the Environment, philosopher, doctor, and poet, faced criticism mainly because he was primarily a theorist of heritage care and had published works on this subject.
    Hájek began advocating for the separation of the administration of state heritage sites from the execution of expert activities. He aimed for a new heritage law that would eliminate the dualism of heritage care, i.e., the existing separation of administrative proceedings and the preparation of expert assessments. Later, NPÚ moderated the idea of creating a new institution managing state heritage sites, and no new heritage law was created.
    Hájek's concept of heritage care, published months after his appointment, caused considerable discontent. Experts were bothered, for instance, by Hájek's statement that the preservation of a monument should be measured by its viability. Hájek did not write about preserving the authenticity of the monument; on the contrary, he extensively considered reducing the number of monuments in his concept.
    Minister Štěpánek knows Hájek from his previous work at the Ministry of the Environment, where the now former head of heritage professionals worked as an advisor; Štěpánek collaborated with the environmental information agency Cenia, which is a contributory organization of the ministry.
    Two weeks ago, the Minister of Culture also dismissed the director of the National Theatre, and other personnel changes made upon his appointment have occurred at the level of deputies or department directors. Minister Štěpánek intends to present his concept for leading the department at a press conference on Wednesday.