Prague, April 6 (CTK) – Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek (Social Democrats, CSSD) dismissed Jan Zavesicky from the post of general director of Czech Centres due to serious managerial errors on Thursday, the ministry’s press department has said.
Zavesicky was criticised for the filling of the post of director of the Czech Centre in Paris as he refused to name the winner of the previous competition for the post, Jean-Gaspard Palenicek.
This step prompted a protest letter of 226 French intellectuals and academics addressed to the foreign minister.
Zavesicky’s deputy and director of the cultural diplomacy department, Monika Zablerova, will be the acting head of the Czech Centres.
The new director will arise from a competition that will be soon declared. The competitions were already put up for the posts of the branches not only in Paris, but also in Brussels and Vienna.
The Czech centres, established in 1993, promote Czech culture and organise international contacts not only for artists.
They represent the Czech Republic also in the sphere of trade and tourism, support external economic relations and export policy.
They operate on three continents, for instance, in Berlin, Moscow, Paris, Vienna, New York and Tokyo.
