Government unlawfully fired director of Polish History Museum, finds court

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A court has ruled that the culture minister acted unlawfully when firing the longstanding director of the Polish History Museum (MHP) in Warsaw last year. The decision to remove Robert Kostro caused widespread criticism at the time, with some accusing the government of political interference.

Kostro says he welcomes today’s ruling with “satisfaction”, though noted that it can still be appealed. The culture ministry says it is awaiting the court’s justification for its decision before deciding whether to take further action.

Last September, the then culture minister, Hanna Wróblewska, fired Kostro, who had led the MHP since its founding 18 years earlier. She said that the decision had been made due to Kostro’s alleged mismanagement of the institution, in particular a “lack of efficiency in managing money”.

Wróblewska claimed there had been repeated delays in establishing a permanent home for the museum – a huge building that was only completed in 2023 – and a permanent exhibition, which still has not opened. “Costs are rising and rising, and we don’t really see an end in sight,” she told broadcaster RMF.

Kostro defended his record, saying that such a huge undertaking inevitably takes time and faces delays. Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (NIK) also found no problems with MHP’s budget.

The head of the museum’s council, Jolanta Choińska-Mika, who was appointed by the current government, protested against Kostro’s dismissal, saying that he “had proved to be an efficient manager and a man of political consensus”. Another member of the council resigned in solidarity with Kostro.

Although Wróblewska insisted that by firing Kostro she was “not interfering with the autonomy of the institution”, that accusation was levelled against her by a variety of figures.

Even an MP from Poland’s main ruling party, Krzysztof Mieszkowski of Civic Coalition (KO), told broadcaster TVN that “this is a political decision. Hanna Wróblewska is pursuing her own cultural policy”. However, he insisted that “she has the right to do so because she is a minister”.

Kostro, however, disagreed, and launched a legal appeal against his removal. Today he announced that he had won the case, with the provincial administrrative court in Warsaw finding Wróblewska’s decision to have been “illegal” and ordering it to be reversed.

“The ministry may still appeal to the NSA [Supreme Administrative Court], but [for now] there is satisfaction,” he added.

Later, a spokesperson for the court confirmed to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that it had overturned the culture minister’s decision and noted that all parties have the right to appeal within 30 days of receiving a copy of the ruling and justification.

Culture ministry spokesman Piotr Jędrzejowski told PAP that they would wait until receiving those documents before deciding how to proceed. Wróblewska herself is no longer the culture minister, having been removed as part of a government reshuffle last month.

Shortly after dismissing Kostro, Wróblewska appointed Marcin Napiórkowski, a scholar at the University of Warsaw, as its new director and he remains in that position.

After today’s ruling, Piotr Gliński, an opposition MP who served as culture minister in the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, said that it offered further evidence of the “pure lawlessness and the destruction of Poland” being undertaken by the current administration.

Gliński was himself often accused of political interference in the management of institutions while he was in office.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Rafał Chmielewski/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.