Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová dismissed Matej Drlička, the Director General of the Slovak National Theatre. According to the Culture Ministry, the director has not satisfactorily solved the problems pointed out by the Ministry. These include the lease of a building for the theatre workshops, the unsolved dismissal of the ballet director Nina Poláková, complaints from members of the opera branch, remarks about politicians, and a fallen crystal chandelier during a performance.
According to Matej Drlička, the ministry wanted to seize control over yet another cultural institution. According to him, the appeal was delivered directly to his home by an official of the Culture Ministry accompanied by two security guards. The dismissed director compared the method to the procedures of the secret police during the communist era.
Zora Jaurová, the vice-chair of the Committee on Culture and Media from the Progressive Slovakia party, points out that the Culture Minister is trying to politically control cultural institutions, take away their independence and appoint her own candidates as managers. Jaurová pointed out that although the minister has the power to dismiss the director, there must be serious reasons for doing so.
Jaurová said she would ask for the reasons at the Culture and Media Committee in Parliament. Its chairman and the member of the Slovak National Party, of which the Culture Minister is a nominee of, Roman Michelko expects the opposition to raise the issue at the Committee, but the Ministry says it has not yet declared that it will raise the issue.
The Slovak National Gallery has called on the minister to reconsider the decision. But today, the minister also dismissed the director of the Slovak National Gallery Alexandra Kusá. The official reason was "her unacceptable decision-making during the reconstruction of the building of the SNG". Kusá was the head of the SNG for 14 years.
The Slovak National Museum has also voiced support to Matej Drlička. According to media reports, the dismissal of the head of the Slovak National Museum could also come in the near future.
Source: TASR, Slovak Radio, Slovak Television
