Slovak media freedom under threat amid controversial bill, Jourová warns

European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová called for the respect of media freedom in Slovakia during her meeting with Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová and other Slovak government officials on Thursday, a day after the government approved the new draft law to overhaul public broadcaster RTVS.

Following her meeting with Slovakia’s Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová, Jourová expressed her “increasing concerns about media freedom and safety of journalists in Slovakia” on X.

“Public media have a big responsibility and need to be independent and strong in all member states,” Jourová wrote, adding that during their meeting, she “stressed the need to respect the Media Freedom Act.”

Jourová’s comments and pre-planned visit came one day after Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government approved a controversial bill to tighten state control over public service broadcaster RTVS, which for many years was rated as being the most objective TV news in Slovakia.

She arrived in Bratislava to meet with media representatives, NGO employees, and top Slovak politicians, including Fico.

Earlier on Thursday, Jourová also reflected on the situation while giving a brief online speech at the launch of the Media Freedom Poll 2024 in Budapest by recommending “strong action” to protect media freedom, as polls show increasingly high levels of concern in Slovakia.

“Today’s results show that citizens in Visegrad 4 countries want the media to be free from political pressure. But they have concerns that this is not the case. We see that concerns are increasing in Slovakia and Hungary, while they are decreasing in Poland. And citizens expect the EU to take strong action to protect media freedom,” said Jourová.

She cited the poll’s findings showing continuing strong support for the EU imposing penalties on countries whose governments interfere with media freedom, particularly in Poland (63%) and Slovakia (61%).

Even though the final draft law on Slovakia’s RTVS went through several minor changes, critics fear it still poses a threat to media freedom in Slovakia.

Meanwhile, RTVS employees recorded a video expressing their concerns about the reform, saying RTVS might become “a handmaiden of politicians power and interests.”

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)

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