Ladislav Bátora resigns from Czech Education Ministry

Controversial Czech Education Ministry bureaucrat Ladislav Bátora has resigned from his position as deputy executive director of the minister´s cabinet. He told the press today that he will be leaving the ministry completely.

Bátora said he wants to be involved in civic and political affairs but cannot do so in his current position, as he is obliged to uphold the promises secured from him in that regard by Czech Education Minister Josef Dobeš (Public Affairs – VV). Dobeš was pressured by other partners in the governing coalition into extracting a promise of silence from the controversial bureaucrat. In his statement today, Bátora thanked Czech President Václav Klaus for his support and said he felt indebted to him.

Bátora explained his decision to resign during a roughly 30-minute statement to journalists, during which he primarily listed the various scandals in which he has been involved. He rejected the accusations of anti-Semitism, extremism, and racism that have been leveled against him. In his view, these accusations have been intended to damage his reputation and are untrue. He left the room after reading his statement, did not speak further with the press, and did not want to communicate any other details. A spokesperson for Czech Education Minister Dobeš said the minister will comment on the situation at a press conference on Monday, but not before.

Bátora formally explained his departure by saying he could no longer keep his promise to Minister Dobeš that he would not comment on public affairs. "He and President Klaus were the only two constitutional officers who expertly and thoroughly stood up for me during the hardest period of my life. I feel greatly indebted to both of them for their brave, extremely important loyalty and support," Bátora declared at his press briefing.

"Those who have been calling and hankering for my resignation day and night for almost nine months can start celebrating now. I hope they have a good, noisy party," Bátora said at the end of his half-hour presentation to the press.

Bátora has been working at the ministry since February. A new executive director of the minister´s cabinet was appointed as Bátora´s new superior this week.

Czech Education Minister Dobeš brought Bátora into the ministry despite the wave of criticism that immediately rose against him. In 2006, Bátora ran as a candidate for the now-defunct ultra-right National Party (Národní strana – NS), which led nonprofit organizations and politicians to protest against him.

In addition to his links to the ultra-right scene, his critics did not like his activities in the controversial D.O.S.T. civic initiative. When Bátora insulted the chair of the TOP 09 party, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, through the Facebook social networking site, ministers with that party refused to attend cabinet sessions until he was removed from his post as director of human resources at the ministry.

Bátora says the reason he has come under attack is that he rejects multiculturalism, which in his view is becoming a state doctrine. Another motivation has been the concerns of some parts of the political spectrum that Bátora and his close co-workers might create a new, strong political party on the right after Czech President Klaus finishes his term. Bátora said these speculations have predicted the participation of Jana Bobošíková´s Suverenita (Sovereignty) party in such an alliance.

In his declaration, Bátora complained of a "campaign to discredit" him, which he says was conducted in a "depraved way", quoting the statements some journalists and politicians made about him. He claims he has been falsely accused and that the justice system has rejected his petitions for redress.

Bátora currently chairs the conservative D.O.S.T. initiative, which is opposed to sex education in the schools and opposed the first-ever Prague Pride march by sexual minorities in the nation´s capital this year. A few years ago he also participated in a lecture series on Czech anti-Jewishness organized by the ultra-nationalist Patriotic Front (Vlastenecká fronta). In a "reader" he compiled entitled Czech Review – My Nation and My Homeland (Česká revue – Můj národ a má vlast), Bátora praised an anti-Semitic tract by early 20th century author Rudolf Vrba entitled The Adulteration of the Slavs (Zkáza Slovanů).