Employees of Slovak public television and radio came to work in black clothes

During the day, photos of RTVS employees dressed in black appeared on the social network. The event was attended not only by the employees of the Bratislava headquarters, but also by the regional editorial office of RTVS.

“We don’t want to be buried. But if the public and independent RTVS is to be a thing of the past, we declare Thursday the Black Day of RTVS. Employees, co-workers and sympathizers of RTVS will dress in black and thus express sadness and disagreement with the upcoming changes,” said the organizers of the protest from the Initiative for Public Law and Independence on the Social Network.

The employees of RTVS were also supported by black clothing, journalists of other Slovak media, employees of theaters and several opposition MPs at a session of the Slovak Parliament.

On the basis of the draft law on Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) approved by the Fico government, the current RTVS will essentially be abolished and, therefore, the current director Ľuboš Machaj will automatically be replaced.

The Slovak opposition pointed out that Fico’s government wants to control the public media. “The government is proceeding according to the autocrats’ manual to subjugate the security forces, weaken the judicial power and subjugate the media,” pointed out the chairman of Progressive Slovakia, Michal Šimečka. According to the opposition party Svoboda a solidarita (SaS), there is a danger that RTVS will become a “disinformation medium” that will spread pro-government and pro-Russian propaganda. According to SaS chairman Branislav Gröhling, the proposed law returns Slovakia to “hard socialism”.

Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová said during her visit to Slovakia on Thursday that the Commission will assess the law after its approval and that she sees sensitive issues in it. “The commission will evaluate the law when it is approved. We will measure it against the European Media Freedom Act. I mentioned several things that we see as sensitive,” Jourová said in Bratislava during her meeting with the Slovak Minister of Culture Martina Šimkovičová (nominee of the Slovak National Party).