Czech senator demands resignation of Krkonoše National Park head

Senator for the STAN party and Vrchlabí mayor Jan Sobotka demanded on Tuesday, at a press conference in the town hall, the resignation or dismissal of Petr Moravec, director of the Krkonoše National Park administration. He called the current situation “the biggest threat to the administration’s work in 30 years”.

Moravec, a forester and teacher, took over the administration in June. Even before his appointment, some mayors of local municipalities criticized the choice, arguing that he was not competent enough. “After four months, my concerns are being confirmed,” Sobotka said. Also present at the meeting were Mladé Buky mayor Lucie Potučková and Horní Branná mayor Luboš Zimmermann. Sobotka addressed Environment Minister Igor Červený and stressed that he was speaking as chairman of the union of Krkonoše towns and municipalities, but that the demand was his personal one.

Loss of trust and people

Among the reasons, he cited staff’s loss of trust, the departure of qualified employees, the possible closure of some museums and a lack of communication both within the administration and outside it. In October, the head of the project management department, Josef Talab, who had applied for the director’s post in the spring, left the park. According to Sobotka, the park’s finances depended on his work: he is able to attract more than 100 million crowns a year in subsidies, roughly a third of the annual budget.

Another reason for distrust is the founding, in late September, of an organization called the “Association of National Parks of Czechia”, even though an association with that name already exists. Moravec put himself at the head of the new body without inviting or notifying the other directors, and apologized to them later. His subordinates also blamed him for creating a parallel association in an open letter: all of the park’s deputies signed it, as did Talab and park spokesman Radek Drahný. In addition, 14 people are to be cut from the administration by the end of the year, but the director has not told the departments which positions are affected.

What will happen to the museums

According to information from Sobotka, which he described as a proposal rather than a final decision, Moravec wants to place logistics and timber sales directly under his own office. The new organizational rules, the senator claims, provide for cutting about 25 positions in the museums. Only the museum in Vrchlabí is mentioned, while the museums in Jilemnice, Paseky and Harrachov are not mentioned at all. “I find this alarming, especially because the director told us that nothing was changing,” Sobotka added.

He does not plan any further steps for now, but would like to discuss the situation with other senators, for example the recently elected Martin Puta. Moravec was appointed by Minister Igor Červený on the decision of a selection committee, three months after Robin Böhnisch was suspended. Sobotka himself sat on the committee; he has repeatedly called the competition a predetermined “theater”. Neither Moravec, nor the park administration, nor the ministry responded to a request for comment.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz