Page 34 - RusRPTAug24

34 I Central Europe bne August 2024
Slovakia's PM Robert Fico has axed state military aid for Ukraine and openly cosied up to Hungarian radical right-wing strongman Viktor Orban. / Smer
in order’ with disobedient former President of USA” in yet another one of Fico’s attacks on media, which he has referred to as “enemy media.”
Fico, who survived the assassination attempt in mid-May after being shot multiple times, called the shooting
at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania,
a “copy-paste scenario,” adding that “political opponents of Donald Trump are trying to lock him [Trump] up and when this doesn’t work out, then they whip up the public so much until some poor chap grabs a weapon.”
Fico has faced criminal investigation himself in the recent past while other high-ranking Smer officials are still investigated.
After making several public appearances in the last two weeks Fico declared
“I am back” with a renewed aggressive style of politics which many analysts and commentators have blamed for deepening the divisions cutting through Slovak politics and society, which is also proliferated by disinformation and pro-Russian propaganda.
primarily on promising "certainties," social packages and nostalgic talks about the previous regime," commented editor at DennikN daily Vladimir Snidl, adding that after the 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak Fico abandoned attempts to appeal pro-EU voters.
"After the murder and mainly during the Covid, he [Fico] reoriented to a completely
different target [group]. One which listens to conspiracy theories and hate [narra- tives] – against media, the West, liberals, NGOs, minorities, etc.," Snidl said.
In a separate message, Fico also stated that “if the attacker on Donald Trump knew Slovak, he would just need to read [liberal outlets] DennikN, SME or Aktuality.sk, to get a taste ‘to get things
Slovakia's populist government tames
the broadcasters
Albin Sybera in Bratislava
Slovak journalists fear the creeping “Orbanisation” of their country’s media as Robert Fico’s left-right populist government tightens state control over the main public broadcaster, and private television channels tone down critical coverage.
On June 30 incoming President Peter Pellegrini signed a bill to restructure the public broadcaster RTVS into
STVR [Slovak Television and Radio],
a proposal that has sparked domestic and international protests since it was introduced in March. The bill became law on July 1. Pellegrini stressed on his Facebook social media page that the bill
www.bne.eu
is “not in conflict with the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and it is not an infringement on the freedom of speech”.
Pellegrini was slammed by liberal media for the speed with which he signed the bill, days after Fico’s coalition pushed
it through parliament in a shortened legislative process, relying on its narrow majority of 78 out of 150 seats.
Peter Bardy, editor-in-chief of online news outlet Aktuality.sk, wrote that the first steps of Pellegrini, who was backed by Fico during the presidential campaign, show that the former Hlas party leader is not going to be the
Thomas Becket of Slovak politics and turn on his former party boss Fico, who is an open admirer of Hungarian strongman Orban.
The broadcasting bill ejects the RTVS’ long-term CEO Lubos Machaj and
will give the Ministry of Culture four appointees on the new nine-member STVR governing body that will elect the new CEO. The other five members will be appointed by parliament. There will also be an ethical commission overseeing the STVR programming.
Opposition parties expect the new CEO, who has yet to be appointed, to trim the