Czech government adopts contested cultural policy as sector faces 2026 grant funding cuts

The Czech cabinet backed a replacement 2026–2029 framework for the country’s cultural sector after dozens of professional organizations, institutions, associations, and trade unions urged ministers to withdraw the proposal, saying its preparation was non-transparent and excluded the public. The decision came as state funding was reduced or restricted across several 2026 grant schemes for culture, literature, and publishing and was taken on Oct. 5.

Funding available for grant competitions under the Culture Ministry’s Cultural Activities program was initially reduced by 29.4%, from 1.146 billion Czech crowns in 2025 to 810 million crowns in 2026. Following criticism from the sector and protests by arts students, the ministry added 125 million crowns, bringing the amount available for live culture to 935 million crowns — still below the previous year’s level.

The literary sector also received less support. A Culture Ministry commission distributed 26.5 million crowns for literary periodicals and events in 2026, compared with 34 million crowns in 2025 and 28 million crowns in 2024. Commission members said the amount was insufficient to adequately support literary periodicals, major book and literary events, and regional initiatives.

Earlier in the year, the commission initially refused to distribute funding after being presented with a preliminary amount about 40% lower than the previous year. The ministry later said the figure had been calculated incorrectly. The final allocation nevertheless remained below the amounts distributed in both 2024 and 2025.

Budget restrictions have also directly affected book publishing. The Culture Ministry said it would not hold second 2026 grant rounds for non-periodical publications because of limited budget resources and delays to the grant timetable caused by the provisional state budget. The affected schemes cover Czech literature, translations of international literature, and illustrated works for children and young adults, including comics.

According to Eva Kecková, an editor at NLN Publishing, if funding is not allocated to cultural programmes, it will affect some titles by local writers, and publishers will have to look for alternative sources of funding.

Photo: Eva Kecková, Norla

Support for Czech literature abroad has also been constrained. The first 2026 round of the ministry’s Support Programme for Publishing Translations of Czech Literature Abroad received a record number of applications, with requested support significantly exceeding the program’s financial capacity. The ministry said supported projects could not receive the full amounts requested and that evaluation criteria had to be applied more strictly.

In the second round, selected projects received funding for translation and copyright costs, while some also received production support. However, no funding was provided for promotional activities because of budget constraints. The ministry gave priority in both rounds to projects connected with Czechia’s Guest of Honour appearance at the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair, including translations into relevant language markets and works by living authors.

The newly adopted State Cultural Policy replaces the strategy approved by the previous government. The 2026–2029 document is intended to reflect the current cabinet’s priorities while supporting cultural creation, protecting cultural heritage, developing cultural and creative industries, and improving access to culture across Czechia.

Culture Minister Oto Klempíř has described the 2026–2029 framework as being built around three areas — people working in culture, cultural heritage, and the future. Its priorities include remuneration for cultural workers, modernization of museums, galleries, and libraries, digitization and artificial intelligence, cultural tourism, creative industries, and international promotion of Czech culture. An implementation action plan is due to be submitted to the government by Nov. 30, 2026. For 2027, documents accompanying the policy project Culture Ministry expenditure of about 19.3 billion crowns, including approximately 1.25 billion crowns for live arts.

Photo: Oto Klempíř, Novinky.cz

In an open letter, cultural groups called instead for the implementation of the State Cultural Policy 2026–2030+, which the previous government approved after a lengthy preparation and consultation process. They argued that the replacement document had been developed without sufficient public and professional involvement.

The funding restrictions come at a significant moment for Czech publishing. As reported earlier, Czechia is the Guest of Honour at the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair. The program aims to expand the presence of Czech authors in German-speaking markets, increase the visibility of Czech literature in English-, French-, and Spanish-speaking markets, support translators, and strengthen the international profile of Czech culture.

Main photo: Radio Prague International