Mass protests in Slovakia against the plan to reconstruct public broadcasting
Kyiv • UNN
Thousands of Slovaks protested against the government's plan to reform public broadcasting by eliminating Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) and replacing it with a new institution controlled by a government-appointed board.
On Friday evening, thousands of Slovaks protested against the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico. The demonstrations took place in the two largest cities of Slovakia - Bratislava and Kosice, DW writes, UNN reports .
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Two liberal opposition parties, Progressive Slovakia (PS) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), called for rallies.
The parties accused Fico's government of wanting to take control of the country's public broadcaster, Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), and threaten press freedom.
The demonstrators carried banners with the slogans "We will not surrender the RTBC!".
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According to the plan developed by the Minister of Culture, Martina Simkovíková, RTVS is to be officially dissolved and transformed into a new institution called STaR (short for Slovak Television and Radio).
The new seven-member board, appointed by the government and parliament, will elect its director, although the current board has a parliamentary mandate until 2027.
The board would have the right to dismiss a director without giving reasons.
More than a thousand RTVS employees signed a call for protest, and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of which RTVS is a member, also criticized the plan as a threat to media independence.
Since Fico's return to power in 2023, protests have taken place in cities across Slovakia, including against Fico's plan to change the justice system, which many believe poses a threat to the rule of law.
