At its meeting on Monday 5 October 2026 the Government of the Czech Republic approved the draft State Cultural Policy of the Czech Republic for 2026 to 2029. Culture Minister Oto Klempíř (for Motoristé sobě) announced this at a press conference.[1] Implementation is to be ensured by a follow-up Action Plan, which is to be submitted to the government by 30 November.[1]
Content of the document
Klempíř said the cultural policy rests on three pillars: the people who create and look after culture, cultural heritage, and the future.[1] According to the Ministry of Culture, the main directions include protecting and restoring cultural heritage, fairer pay for cultural workers and the modernisation of museums, galleries and libraries. The document also envisages modern legislation for culture, support for digitisation, research and the use of artificial intelligence, a stronger cultural tourism sector, the competitiveness of Czech audiovisual production and the creative industries, and the export of Czech culture.[1]
According to the covering report, expenditure of the Ministry of Culture chapter in 2027 is expected to be about 19.3 billion crowns, which is 1.66 billion more than in this year's approved budget. Of this, roughly 7.5 billion is to go to the operation of contributory organisations, 1.25 billion to support for live arts, 820 million to the rescue and restoration of cultural monuments, 1.05 billion to the care of the national cultural treasure and heritage, roughly 1.16 billion to the renewal of the material and technical base of state cultural facilities and 170 million to regional cultural infrastructure.[1]
Reactions
After the cabinet meeting Klempíř said this is the first such document that was not drawn up at the end of an electoral term as a to-do list for a new government, but at its beginning as a plan. According to him the ministry communicated as widely as possible, and he described the criticism as shouting by interest organisations.[2]
In a statement on Sunday the Kulturní a kreativní federace said that the ministry had held two consultation rounds on the draft but then failed to take their results into account, and called the approach of the ministry's leadership towards the professional community unacceptable.[1][2] According to MP Andrea Hoffmannová, the Czech Pirate Party claims that the document ignores the professional public and key representatives of the cultural sector, and criticises that, in her words, the resilience of society is to be addressed by the Security Information Service and the security forces.[1]
Related articles: Ministerstvo kultury České republiky, Oto Klempíř
Chronology
- — The government approved, on the proposal of Culture Minister Oto Klempíř, the State Cultural Policy for 2026 to 2029, which is criticised by the opposition and part of the cultural community. ČTK / České noviny Novinky.cz
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 5 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 5 October 2026