The Ministry of Social Relations and Culture has terminated the employment of the directors of the Natural History Museum, the National Széchényi Library and the Museum of Applied Arts, following a comprehensive institutional review of cultural background institutions, aimed at ensuring workplace safety, predictability and professional integrity. Furthermore, Minister István Kapitány fired the CEO of Paks II.
Three national collection heads sent away
The dismissal of Zsolt Bernert, Dávid Róza and Zoltán Cselovszki, respectively, came after a review which included consultations with institution leaders, works councils, representative bodies and dozens of employees, the ministry said in a statement quoted by the Hungarian news agency.
Minister Zoltán Tarr also ordered a comprehensive professional, economic and ethical internal investigation at the Hungarian National Museum’s Public Collection Centre (MNM KK), a supervising body of the museums.
The ministry has begun preparations to decentralise the MNM KK, enabling its affiliated institutions to operate with strengthened professional autonomy. The process will involve institution leaders, representative bodies and employees, with the goal of establishing a collection system that ensures a safe work environment, professional autonomy and long-term sustainable operations, the statement said.
Paks II CEO also sacked
Economy and Energy Minister István Kapitány said he had dismissed Gergely Jákli, the CEO of Paks II Nuclear Power Plant, in a post on Facebook on Friday. Kapitány said he would introduce the new CEO of the power plant expansion in the afternoon.
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Péter Magyar: Fidesz’s collapse ‘accelerating exponentially’
Though the government’s “Operation Clean Sweep” aimed at removing corrupt and politically compromised officials from state positions has only just begun, opposition Fidesz’s collapse is already “accelerating exponentially”, PM Magyar said on Friday. “Just weeks ago, [former PM Viktor] Orbán’s puppets were strutting around like they owned the place; now, they’re throwing in the towel one by one,” Magyar said in a post on Facebook.
Balázs Hankó, the former government’s minister for culture and innovation, “may try to hide behind his subordinates for a few more days, but no one can escape the consequences of their actions”, the prime minister said. He said the ruling Tisza Party’s community must also ensure that “second- and third-tier servants of the mafia do not slip through the cracks”. “This is a matter of credibility. The credibility of the regime change,” Magyar added.
Fidesz said in reaction to the prime minister’s remarks that “Magyar does not even hide that he has taken control of the investigation and prosecutors”. “In a statement, the party accused the prime minister of arbitrary rule and “giving instructions to law enforcement”. This, they added, was a
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The problem is that state companies and cultural institutions were all installed with Fidesz party connected loyalists. When the party that was in power before you hired everyone based on party connections the logical thing that must happen is that they are purged by the incoming government. Otherwise you have institutions filled with no one you can trust and who may work against you. That’s what happens when the state apparatus is completely politicized rather than operating as arms length bureaucracies.