The EBU has said it is “highly concerned” over proposed changes by the Slovak government to Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) that the EBU says threaten its editorial independence.
Under a draft law RTVS would be renamed Slovak Television and Radio and the government given the power to remove all the current members of RTVS’ governing Council, including the Director-General.
A new governing Council would be set up composed of seven Members – three appointed by the Ministry of Culture and four by the government coalition-controlled Parliament. The Director General of the new broadcaster would be appointed by this Council which would also have the power to dismiss them on any grounds.
“This appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to turn the Slovak public service broadcaster into state-controlled media,” said EBU Director General Noel Curran.
“That would be a dangerous step backwards for democracy and for freedom of expression. Independent, objective public service media serves as the cornerstone of a healthy society, providing citizens with diverse perspectives and holding those in power to account.”
In a statement, the EBU has detailed how the proposed law would be in breach of several international standards. This includes the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec (2012)1 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on public service media (PSM) governance states that ‘the first priority for public service media must be to ensure that their culture, policies, processes, and programming reflect and ensure editorial and operational independence’.
Last year, the EU Rule of Law report recommended, Slovakia should ‘continue with the process of strengthening the rules and mechanisms to enhance the independent governance and editorial independence of public service media taking into account the European standards on public service media’.
The EBU says the proposals run directly counter to the recommendation.
