Slovaks rebel against populist government’s plan to dismantle public broadcasting – Joop

Protesters in Slovakia took massive action this week against plans by the right-wing populist government to dismantle the public broadcaster. On Wednesday, the demonstrators formed a human chain around the broadcasting building. The government of Putin loyalist Robert Fico has entered into a battle with critical media

Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová, from the ultranationalist Slovak National Party, has drawn up a plan that would put the public broadcaster in state hands. Šimkovičováhas come from the media world and previously worked for an internet channel known for spreading disinformation.

The proposal has drawn strong criticism from President Zuzana Čaputová, opposition parties, local journalists, international media organizations, the European Commission and others who warn that the Fico government wants to take full control of the public broadcaster. Slovak journalists call the plan an attack on all free media.

Protests have been going on for some time against the policy of Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is known for his tirades against journalists. His critics fear that Slovakia under him will exchange the pro-Western course for the direction that Hungary has also taken undefeated under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one that is more focused on the Kremlin.

Šimkovičová has said that the takeover of the public media is necessary because she believes that the current broadcaster is not neutral and only gives space to mainstream views and censors the rest. Criticism that is often heard from (right-wing) populist parties that have no interest in fundamental rights. In the Netherlands, for example, the PVV wants to close down the public broadcaster, and in Italy the neo-fascist Italian Prime Minister Meloni has now managed to bend the RAI to her will.

According to Šimkovičová’s plan, the current public broadcaster, RTVS, must be replaced by a new organization. This should be headed by a seven-member council whose members are chosen by the incumbent politicians. They in turn appoint the broadcasting director and are given the right to dismiss him without having to give a reason.

The hundreds of demonstrators unveiled a banner reading “HANDS OFF RTVS!” and sang to local journalists, “We are with you.” Thousands of people gathered for a similar protest earlier this month. Fico came to power for the fourth time last year after his Smer (Richting) party won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform.