Jiří Čunek was criticized by the US State Department in its annual report on human rights practices across the world for his eviction of some 360 Roma families from Vsetín during his mayoral tenure. His case was included in the section titled Corruption and Transparency.

In January 2008, Čunek from Christian Democratic Party stated at his party's conference: "Traditional Roma culture and its values are in many ways in discord with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." These words were part of his lecture on new Christian Democrats' social policy.