Vladimír Buřt (3 March 1964, Albrechtice) is a Czech politician and environmentalist, and mayor of the town of

Horní Jiřetín Horní Jiřetín (; german: Obergeorgenthal) is a town in Most District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. Administrative parts Horní Jiřetín consists of Černice, Dolní Jiřetín, Horní Jiř ...

Career

He is one of the most prominent advocates of the

brown coal mining limits in North Bohemia Territorial limits to the mining of brown coal in North Bohemia are legally binding according to Resolution No. 444 passed in 1991 by the government of the Czech Republic, on the basis of a proposal tabled by the then Minister for the Environment, I ...

as Horní Jiřetín is threatened with demolition by mining operations at the nearby Czechoslovak Army Mine. He has been a member of the Horní Jiřetín council since 1998, but also runs a small construction business specialising in the reconstruction of historic buildings. He was the recipient of the 2009 Josef Vavroušek Prize for his persistent defence of local communities against the private interests of mining companies. Buřt was also awarded the Ivan Dejmal Prize in 2011 for an outstanding positive achievement associated with the landscape by the Society for Landscape. Buřt is one of the main protagonists in the 2005 documentary, ''God's Stone Quarry'' (Czech: ''Kamenolom Boží''), by director

Břetislav Rychlík Břetislav Rychlík (born 23 July 1958) is a Czech actor and director. He was born in Uherské Hradiště and began his career at the local theater. Later he worked in the theater in Brno and also taught at Janáček Academy of Music and Performi ...

about the life of people living in the vicinity of the lunarscape creating by brown coal mining in North Bohemia. The documentary concludes with Buřt's assessment of what 'demons' the inhabitants of North Bohemian coal mining areas are forced to live with, which in his view is 'materialism'. "Materialism led to the rapid construction of uniform

panelák () is a colloquial term in Czech and Slovak for a panel building constructed of pre-fabricated, pre-stressed concrete, such as those extant in the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in the world. Paneláks are usually located in housing estat ...

s and environmental destruction, and in the post-communist period, it has led to envy. Buřt warns that it threatens to destroy more and that it will eventually result in destruction and the end of humanity." He also briefly appears in another documentary about the lives of two women from opposing sides of the debate about coal mining in North Bohemia, called "Coal in the Soul" (Czech ''Ženy SHR''), one of whom is his partner, Hana Krejčová, who is the custodian of Jezeří Castle situated on the slopes of the Ore Mountains overlooking the Czechoslovak Army Mine and which is also threatened by encroaching mining operations. In the 2012 regional elections, Buřt won a seat on the Ústí regional council as a member of the

Green Party (Czech Republic) The Green Party ( cs, Strana zelených, lit=Party of Greens) is a green political party in the Czech Republic. History The Green party was founded in 1990 following the return to liberal democracy in Czechia following the Velvet Revolution. How ...

on the Hnutí PRO kraj ticket – a coalition of the Green Party, the

Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

(Czech: Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová, KDU–ČSL) and the Movement of Independents’ Harmonious Development of Communities and Towns (Czech: ''Hnutí nezávislých za harmonický rozvoj obcí'' or HNHRM). Hnutí PRO kraj won 8.1% of the vote in the Ústí region while Buřt himself received a total of 1462 votes, which placed him third out of the six candidates who were elected on the PRO kraj ticket. Buřt was listed No. 15 on the Ústí region's Green Party ticket for the 2013 parliamentary elections, while Hana Krejčová appeared at no.8 on the same ticket. The Green Party won 3.19% of the national vote in the elections, i.e. not enough to surpass the 5% threshold to enter parliament. In the Ústí region itself, it won 2.68% of the vote. In Horní Jiřetín, the Green Party won 15.95% of the votes cast, which was the third best party performance behind

ANO 2011 ANO 2011, often shortened to simply ANO ("Yes" in English), the initials meaning Action of Dissatisfied Citizens ( cs, Akce nespokojených občanů), is a populist political party in the Czech Republic. The party was founded by Andrej Babiš. Hi ...

and the

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia ( cs, Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. As of 2021, KSČM has a membership of 28,715, and is a member party of The Left in the European Parliament ...

. In the October 2014 municipal elections, Buřt was the highest polling candidate in Horní Jiřetín with 454 votes. He stood on the Association of Green Parties and Independent Candidates ticket (Czech: ''Sdružení Strany zelených a nezávislých kandidátů''), which returned four representatives to the town council with 27.5% of the total vote.iDNES.cz, Results for Horní Jiřetín
/ref> As a result, he became mayor of the town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Vladimir 1964 births Living people People from Horní Jiřetín Czech environmentalists Green Party (Czech Republic) politicians Mayors of places in the Czech Republic Czech Technical University in Prague alumni