“The environment ministry has, in recent times, been marked by a number of emotions, as if all the issues this ministry should be dealing with had been reduced to some kind of fight against green ideologies. I am convinced that we should do everything possible to return to the essence of what this ministry is for, which is environmental protection,” Pavel said after appointing Červený at Prague Castle on Monday.
A first-term MP elected last October, Červený is an IT specialist and digitalization expert who serves as deputy chair of the Czech parliament’s economic committee and rejects “green demagogy.”
Červený has vowed to “protect nature, free ourselves from green ideology and defend our industry.” He also has criticized renewable energy sources and the EU emissions trading scheme, similar to Babiš, who has called it “an absolute disaster.”
The Motorists party was insistent on Turek being installed as the environment minister, even leading to a bitter standoff between Macinka and Pavel that saw allegations of blackmail and threats aimed at the president.
A new position was created for Turek in the ministry as commissioner for climate policy and the Green Deal. The former racecar driver posted a video on Instagram before the appointment of Červený, saying: “It will be a minister who is very serious and who will do at the ministry what I want him to do.” He then called himself “the wiser one” for stepping back.