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Slovakia’s government approved a controversial proposal to scrap its public broadcaster RTVS and replace it with what free speech advocates fear could be a mouthpiece for the government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Fico’s government approved the measure on Wednesday. The country’s parliament is expected to vote on it in June and, given Fico’s majority, it is expected to pass.
The new channel, Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), will become what the government called a “state institution.” The government will have more control than before over the hiring of the channel’s director-general and board of directors. The broadcaster will also be obliged to broadcast the Slovak national anthem at least once per day.
Fico’s critics say the move is part of a concentrated crackdown on the press since he returned to power for the fourth time following elections in October. Thousands came out to protest the initial proposal when it was revealed last month. RTVS employees, opposition politicians, media freedom groups and the European Broadcasting Union were among the measure’s biggest opponents.
The government responded to those protests by watering down the initial bill, but its opponents were hardly assuaged.
“The only goal is to create a state television that will be on their side, that will be the government’s mouthpiece and that will no longer be independent,” Michal Šimečka, the leader of opposition party Progressive Slovakia, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová said at a press conference on Wednesday that STVR would respect the European Act on Freedom of the Media, which calls for protecting media pluralism and independence. However, Richard Burnley, the legal and policy director at the European Broadcasting Union, told POLITICO last month that the initial proposal was “without a doubt” in breach of the act.
Fico, whose anti-West positions and opposition to the war in Ukraine has unsettled leaders in Brussels and Western Europe, has repeatedly denounced RTVS for “not being objective enough.”
Shortly after resuming power, Fico announced his government won’t communicate with “unfriendly media” — inlcuding Aktuality.sk, a news outlet where investigative journalist Ján Kuciak had worked before he was murdered in 2018 during Fico’s third term. The public outcry following the murder led to a government reshuffle and Fico’s resignation.
