President Petr Pavel appointed Mikuláš Bek as the new Education Minister and Martin Dvořák as the new Minister for European Affairs on Thursday, giving a new face to the government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
Dvořák (both Mayors and Independents, STAN) has replaced Bek as the European Affairs Minister, while Bek himself will be taking over from Vladimír Balaš (STAN), who recently resigned over COVID-related health problems.
Bek’s appointment marks the third education minister change in Fiala’s coalition government as Balaš’ predecessor, Petr Gazdík (STAN), resigned because of his contacts with shady businessman accused in a corruption case.
As for Dvořák, a former deputy to Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (Pirates), he was previously the consul general in New York or the Czech ambassador to Kuwait.
Both new ministers face the urgent task of explaining, together with the rest of the government, the steps to the correction of public finances, due to which the five-member coalition is currently working on a consolidation package, said Pavel.
Bek is to prioritise lifelong learning and transformation of the education system so people can adapt to the age of artificial intelligence, automation and robotics.
Dvořák, for his part, is to first focus on Ukraine’s assistance in all its possible forms.
“Ukraine’s success in the war that Russia is aggressively waging against it is of direct interest to us. If Ukraine fails and Russia succeeds, it will have a negative impact on all parts of our lives,” Pavel said.
(Ondřej Plevák | EURACTIV.cz)
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