Pavel Straka is the director of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate (ČIŽP). He was appointed in June 2026 by Minister of the Environment Igor Červený (Motoristé) on the recommendation of a selection committee. Straka is a lawyer and in the 2025 parliamentary elections stood for Motoristé in the South Moravian Region.[1][2]

Introduction to a parliamentary committee

Straka was originally to introduce himself to the environment committee of the Chamber of Deputies on 2 September 2026, but according to the committee chair Berenika Peštová (ANO), he was not invited because of a heavy agenda. In July the opposition called an extraordinary committee session so that the new directors of the ČIŽP and of the Krkonoše National Park Administration could be introduced; according to Minister Červený, Straka did not attend because he had a long-planned holiday.[2]

On 30 September 2026 the committee voted that Straka's introduction would be closed to the public. Peštová justified this by saying that the discussion could drift beyond the committee's powers. Members of parliament Petr Bendl (ODS) and Gabriela Svárovská (Czech Pirate Party/Greens) disagreed with the closed session. The Zelený kruh association of environmental organisations called on the committee to publish a recording and on Straka to introduce himself to the public afterwards. Minister Červený said that the head of the ČIŽP communicates with the media through the press department and that, as a civil servant, he is not obliged to appear in public.[2][4]

According to member of parliament Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL), Straka said at the session that he wants to raise inspectors' salaries and to deal with illegal waste transport into Czechia, and that he will not be based in Brno, where he had originally planned a second office. Both Hladík and Bendl assessed his appearance critically; Bendl said that he had not been convinced of the director's managerial abilities.[1][3]

Sources

  1. Seznam Zprávy
  2. ČTK / České noviny — 30 September 2026
  3. Hospodářské noviny
  4. Ekolist.cz — 30 September 2026