Slovak MEPs ask Commission to probe Fico’s treatment of media

1 year ago 39

Nine Slovak MEPs have asked the European Commission to investigate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s boycott of major news agencies and assess whether it violates EU values, in a letter signed by other EU lawmakers and sent to Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová.

Fico banned TV Markíza and the news sites Denník N, SME and Aktuality from entering the government offices and attending the Smer political meeting. He has also described the media as the “enemy”, pending a further “check” of their credentials.

“It’s just a first direct signal in a series of steps that you can expect from Slovak MEPs,” one of the signatories, MEP Vladimír Bilčík (EPP), told Euractiv Slovakia, calling Fico’s actions “unacceptable” and “unprecedented”.

The letter was also signed by MEPs from Renew Europe and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Missing were the non-aligned, including Smer members who were recently suspended from the European Parliament’s Socialist and Democrat Group (S&D).

Bilčík, also the EPP’s shadow rapporteur on the European Media Freedom Act, expressed hope that trilogue negotiations on the dossier could be concluded during the Spanish EU presidency, which runs until the end of the year.

The law is designed to give the EU more tools to fight media freedom violations by introducing working definitions of key terms and allowing the European Commission to launch infringement proceedings against a member state, which can result in hefty fines. Slovakia, under a previous government, supported the law in the Council.

However, Slovakia’s Culture Ministry is now headed by Slovak National Party member Martina Šimkovičová – a former newsreader who worked for the internet-based TV Slovan, which is considered a conspiratorial website by the Konšpirátori.sk monitoring project.

“If the European Union is serious about defending its own values, it should be more than concerned about the state of press freedom in Slovakia,” said Beata Balogová, editor-in-chief of one of the boycotted dailies, SME.

(Barbara Zmušková | Euractiv.sk)