Czech PM praises Culture Minister but urges progress on buy-out of pig farm on Roma genocide site

Deník Referendum reports that Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party – ČSSD) has met with Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman (Christian Democrats – KDU-ČSL) as part of his regular performance reviews of all cabinet members. Sobotka said he is satisfied with how Herman is drawing from EU funds for his ministry and that the average wages paid to persons working in culture have risen.

Sobotka reminded Herman that the tasks that remain before him and Czech Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka (ČSSD) include the resolution of the buy-out of the pig farm at Lety u Písku, which stands on the site of a WWII-era concentration camp for Romani people. The main topic of the meeting was an assessment of the ministry’s activities during this electoral term.

Herman and Sobotka discussed the drawing of EU funds, incentives for film production, and the memorial at Lety. Another priority for the Czech Culture Ministry in the near term, according to Sobotka, is organizing the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, next year’s commemorations of the Prague Spring of 1968, and reconstructing the buildings of the National Gallery system.

At the close of the meeting, Herman expressed the conviction that the Czech Government would succeed with resolving the situation around building a dignified memorial at Lety by the end of its time in office. “A pig farm will no longer stand at a location where our fellow citizens suffered, where hundreds of people died, but there will be a memorial that will commemorate their suffering during the time of the Second World War,” the Czech Culture Minister told Deník Referendum.