41 Facts About Jaroslav Kubera

Jaroslav Kubera was a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party, who served in the Czech Senate representing Teplice from 2000 and the Senate President from 2018 until his death in 2020.

Jaroslav Kubera previously served as mayor of Teplice from 1994 to 2018.

Jaroslav Kubera died on 20 January 2020 after suffering a heart attack, becoming the first high-ranking Czech official to die in office.

Jaroslav Kubera studied mathematics at Masaryk University and business at the University of Economics, Prague, but did not complete his studies.

Jaroslav Kubera subsequently worked at Sklo Union Teplic and the business department of Elektrosvit Teplice.

In 1992, Jaroslav Kubera joined the Civic Democratic Party and led the party in the Teplice municipal election in 1994, becoming the mayor of Teplice.

Jaroslav Kubera privatised some municipal companies, including the public transport company, making Teplice the only town in the Czech Republic without a publicly owned transport company.

Jaroslav Kubera led ODS to victory for the last time in the 2018 municipal election, and subsequently negotiated a coalition with ANO 2011, before stepping down as mayor to be succeeded by his colleague Hynek Hanza.

Jaroslav Kubera ran for the Senate in the 1998 Senate election.

On 22 August 2015, Jaroslav Kubera announced that he was considering running for president in 2018, but said he would wait to see who else was running and then decide.

Jaroslav Kubera said that he would decide after the 2017 legislative election.

Jaroslav Kubera stated that he had 19 signatures and would keep gathering signatures among senators.

Jaroslav Kubera's chance grew following negotiations with a smaller Senate faction.

On becoming President of the Senate, Jaroslav Kubera said he wanted to improve its reputation among the Czech population by meeting citizens and debating the role of the Senate in the Czech political system.

Jaroslav Kubera said that he wanted to visit all 81 Senate districts.

On 1 January 2019 Jaroslav Kubera gave his first new year speech as the President of the Senate, warning about the loss of personal freedoms and criticising excessive regulations.

In June 2019, Jaroslav Kubera supported a petition for the protection of the individual's right to keep and bear arms.

When Zeman said in September 2019 that the Czech Republic should retract its recognition of Kosovan independence, Jaroslav Kubera rejected it, arguing it was just a gesture to please Serbia, and that it was impossible to retract the recognition.

Jaroslav Kubera participated in a reception for delegates from Taiwan, for which he was criticised by the Chinese ambassador to Prague.

On 29 September 2019, Jaroslav Kubera then met with the Chinese ambassador and rejected his criticism, stating that the Czech Republic was a sovereign country which the People's Republic of China should respect and not act from a position of power.

Jaroslav Kubera announced in October 2019 that he planned to be the first Czech constitutional official to visit Taiwan.

Jaroslav Kubera's planned visit was criticised by President Zeman, who said it was against the Czech national interest.

Zeman said he would end their relationship if Jaroslav Kubera went to Taiwan.

On 1 January 2020 Jaroslav Kubera gave his second New Year speech.

Jaroslav Kubera criticised the influence of social networks and the green wave, and expressed fears that freedom of speech was under threat.

On 14 January 2020 Jaroslav Kubera met with Czech president Milos Zeman and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Radek Vondracek for lunch, and defended his planned visit to Taiwan.

In January 2020, Jaroslav Kubera was planning to visit Taiwan to enhance trade links between the Czech Republic and Taiwan.

Jaroslav Kubera was married to Vera Kuberova whom he had known since childhood.

Jaroslav Kubera died on 20 January 2020 at Usti nad Labem Hospital.

Jaroslav Kubera's relatives alleged a threatening message from the Chinese embassy played a part in his sudden death.

Jaroslav Kubera said that he liked Kubera, and believed they understood each other.

ODS leader Petr Fiala expressed great grief, stating that it was unbelievable, as Jaroslav Kubera had been energetic at the party's Congress.

Jaroslav Kubera said that ODS and Czech politics had lost a great personality who would be hard to replace.

Former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek expressed shock, noting that Jaroslav Kubera had seemed to him an immortal, unstoppable, and never-ending individual.

MP Miroslava Nemcova said that Jaroslav Kubera was irreplaceable and she would dearly miss him.

Jaroslav Kubera was posthumously awarded the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon by Tsai, and Vystrcil accepted the award on his behalf on 3 September 2020.

Jaroslav Kubera argued that member states should have more power than the Union, and was a critic of Angela Merkel's immigration policy.

Jaroslav Kubera was supportive of the market economy and opposed subsidies, which he believed harmed the economy and caused corruption.

Jaroslav Kubera said that he was not fighting for the rights of smokers but wanted to prevent further limits on freedom.

In election that Jaroslav Kubera ran as a leader of party list the result of the party is listed.

In 2017, Jaroslav Kubera appeared in a cameo role as Edvard Benes in the historical dramatic film Toman.