Slovakia’s Culture Ministry has proposed a bill on the public broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) that would undermine safeguards established by EMFA, with critics saying it poses a threat to democracy and EU values.
Under the new law, RTVS will be renamed Slovak Television and Radio (STaR) and the government will be able to sack all current members of its board, including the director general.
The new director will be chosen by a seven-member board – three appointed by the Ministry of Culture and four by parliament, where Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government has a majority. The council would be able to sack the new STaR director for any reason.
The bill could also conflict with Wednesday’s European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which states that governments must ensure the independence of public media providers.
In particular, the new EU law stipulates that boards of directors must be appointed in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner and their members cannot be dismissed before the end of their term, except in the most exceptional cases.
Vladimir Bilčík, Slovak MEP and shadow rapporteur for EMFA, said Fico is following the same scenario as Fidesz in Hungary and PIS in Poland. The broadcaster itself has warned of the consequences of the reform. RTVS Director General Ľuboš Machaj said:
“The proposal is a political intervention that will cause the public media to come under strong political pressure. It reminds me of the days of communism and censors.”
Within 24 hours, more than 600 RTVS employees signed a statement against the reform.
Several other organisations, including the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of which RTVS is a member, have already criticised the bill.
In a statement Wednesday, the EBU wrote that it was “extremely concerned about the Slovak government’s proposals that threaten the editorial independence of its member RTVS,” whose integrity and independence must be “fiercely defended.” EBU Director General Noel Curran said:
“This appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to turn the Slovak public service broadcaster into state-controlled media.”
