(Bloomberg) — Lawmakers in Slovakia have approved an overhaul of public media that would effectively put broadcasters under government control, a move criticized by the opposition and international organizations for undermining personal independence.
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From July, the ruling coalition will nominate its own candidates for the governing bodies of Slovak public television and radio, after lawmakers in Bratislava backed the measure on Thursday.
Anti-media sentiment has increased following an assassination attempt on the prime minister last month Robert Fico, which he blamed on a hostile atmosphere fueled by the press and the opposition. His government has consistently criticized reporting in European Union member states, calling it biased or anti-government.
“The public media are not objective because they are in direct conflict with the Slovak government,” Fico said in April when proposing the bill. He claimed that “the fundamental right of Slovak citizens to access objective information is being violated.”
The minister responsible for the media has criticized the public broadcaster for its unbalanced reporting, especially on the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, claiming it only represents the mainstream view.
At the same time, Fico and his allies praise “alternative” media that avoids critical reporting and reflects the prime minister’s main stories, including criticism of pandemic measures and vaccines during Covid-19, and spreading conspiracies about the war.
The government has also been criticized for using financial pressure to soften the private media, following the policies of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Slovak journalists have warned against the ‘organization’ of the media. The presenter of the most watched private television channel recently accused the management of political pressure in favor of the ruling coalition in an unexpected broadcast.
The Slovak opposition argues that the changes are not in the public interest. The public broadcaster’s current management has condemned the government’s “deliberate change driven by the desire to control the public media”, and employees have repeatedly protested against the law.
Reporters Without Borders has also warned that the law could conflict with the European Media Freedom Act, which was passed last month to safeguard media pluralism and independence within the EU bloc.
Slovakia’s prime minister has faced criticism from Brussels since returning to office in October, while his decision to revise the criminal code and abolish a special prosecutor’s office sparked public protests.
Fico’s previous reign ended five years ago when he was forced to resign amid national outrage over the murder of an investigative journalist.
Slovakia has fallen from 17th to 29th in the press freedom index since Fico’s return to power. Pavol Szalai, head of the EU-Balkans desk at Reporters Without Borders, sees the risk of further decline.
“A battle is taking place in Slovakia over whether the media will remain pluralistic and impartial,” Szalai said in an interview last week.
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