Slovaks went on the streets this week to protest the sudden dismissal of the management of several cultural institutions, while employees of national broadcaster RTVS announced they were ready to strike if the government brought the media under state control, according to Euractiv.
We strongly protest against the arbitrary dismissal of qualified actors of cultural institutions and their replacement by inexperienced people without a selection procedure […] Don’t take away our culture!
Slovaks organised a protest on Thursday after the sudden dismissals of the director of the Bibiana-International House of Art for Children, Zuzana Liptáková, and the Slovak National Library director, Katarína Krištofová, on Monday.
The ministry stated that it “used the legal option of appeal without giving a reason” at the time of the dismissal of Liptáková, who would be replaced by Petra Fach. Bibiana’s employees issued an open letter of condemnation in response, with some resigning from their jobs.
On Wednesday, protesters demonstrated in front of Bratislava’s Kunsthalle, a state-funded art gallery that would close as an independent organisation following a decision by Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová. On the same day, other protesters gathered around the public broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) building to protest against the government’s plan to tighten state control.
RTVS employees stated that they did not rule out the possibility of going on strike if the government continued to threaten their independence. Over 1,200 of them have already signed a declaration against the reform.
Věra Jourová, the European Commissioner for Values and Transparency, stressed that the Commission was also closely following the RTVS reform.
Šimkovičová has already been criticised several times for her actions, including the decision to stop funding LGBTQ+ projects in Slovakia or to redirect EU funds meant to fight disinformation to repair the roof of the Slovak Philharmonic and support libraries instead.
