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1. Government approves law that abolishes and replaces Slovak public broadcaster RTVS 2. Amnesty International criticises Slovak approach to Roma, LGBT people and women's rights 3. Government wants to cooperate with China 4. Best Slovak films awarded
On Wednesday, the government approved the Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) Act. If the law is passed by the parliament, the current Slovak public service broadcaster RTVS will cease to exist, which will also bring an end to the management.
The law will not be discussed in a fast-track legislative procedure. According to the premier Robert Fico, it should be passed by summer. An MP for Smer-SD Dušan Jarjabek has admitted that changes could be made to the law during the debate in the parliament.
The opposition and many experts view this step as purpose-made with the aim of taking control over the broadcaster. The opposition has informed it wants to put maximum pressure to prevent the law from being passed by parliament and is ready to organize protests.
A group of seven NGOs are set to approach European institutions in an open letter.
On Thursday, RTVS employees wore black to express protest with the plan.
During her visit in Slovakia on Thursday, European Commissioner Věra Jourová met with Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová and asked for explanation of the law. She also reminded her of the recently passed Media Freedom Act.
More than 3.7 million euros 57 thousand donors - these are the outcomes of a public fundraiser for ammunition for Ukraine after 10 days. According to the organiser, Slovaks by this means gave an answer to the government that we must help Ukraine in all possible ways. President Zuzana Čaputová has also voiced her support for the initiative.
In an open letter, Ukrainian personalities have thanked Slovaks for their support. Ukrainian soldiers have posted a thank you video online.
The fundraiser is a response to the decision of the government not to take part in the Czech initiative to buy and send ammunition to Ukraine. More than 20 European countries have already joined the Czech initiative.
Slovakia has shortcomings in its approach to Roma and LGBT people and women's rights, says the Amnesty International annual report. Among other things, the organisation criticised the brutal attitude of the police against Roma, the fact that Slovakia has not legalised the abortion pill, registered partnerships for homosexual couples and lack of appropriate healthcare for transgender people.
The Constitutional Law Committee has recommended parliament dismiss two members of the Judicial Council on grounds of loss of confidence and doubts about their dutifulness. The two members and opposition reject this reasoning.
The Slovak National Party plans to nominate unsuccessful candidate for President Štefan Harabin as a member of the Council, but coalition MP for Smer-SD Tibor Gašpar expects it will be difficult to find consensus on his nomination within the coalition. The opposition is against the nomination and calls out Harabin for his work in judiciary in the past.
The Judicial Council is a constitutional body composed of 18 members, out of which 3 are nominated by the parliament.
Last week, members of the Judicial Council ousted the chairman of the Council. The opposition sees this step as an intention of the coalition to seize control over judiciary.
On Wednesday, the government rejected the proposals for candidates for judges of the European General Court and the European Court of Human Rights proposed by the Judicial Council. The government has said they distrust the transparency of the nomination process of one of the candidates and lack of experience of a different candidate.
Eleven prosecutors from the abolished Special Prosecutor's Office have sent an open letter to Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka, criticising the way he treats the prosecutors from the Special Prosecutor's Office abolished by the government.
Maroš Žilinka considers these claims as subjective opinions and feelings. Eight regional prosecutors have backed him.
The deputy foreign affairs minister visited China; the purpose of the trip was to prepare the official visit of the Prime Minister Robert Fico to the country. Its purpose should be to intensify mutual relations between Slovakia and China, with an emphasis on economic cooperation, investments, education and cultural exchange. Premier Robert Fico said the government is planning to cooperate with Chinese investors on transport infrastructure projects in order to make up for the lack of money to fund the projects.
According to the premier, another source of money could be funds from the second pension pillar. The opposition party SaS proposes a constitutional law that will protect the second pension pillar funds in fear that people will be robbed of their contributions.
The government will need a loan to finance the 13th pension, admitted the government. The opposition criticizes the country's indebtedness. The costs of paying 13th pensions this year will reach almost 830 million euros.
The Minister of Culture Martina Šimkovičová summoned the director of the Slovak National Gallery Alexandra Kusá. The Minister criticised the way artists represented Slovakia at the Venice Biennale, describing it as “anti-Slovak activity” and asking to stop using the allocated funds. According to the author of the project Oto Hudec, the minister mistook a separate protest against the Culture Ministry that accompanied the opening for the project itself. He has said this for Aktuality.sk news outlet.
The culture community and opposition widely criticise Martina Šimkovičová. According to a recent survey, she is the least trusted member of the government.
Parliament has approved law that changes rules on felling of trees. According to Environment Minister, the reason for this is to make the landscape clearer and will serve as a preventative measure because it will enable to better see a bear. The minister said this in context of increasing number of bear-human encounters. According to the opposition, the reasoning is misguided and uncontrollable felling could be detrimental for Slovak landscape.
The Sun in a Net award ceremony was dominated by the black comedy Invalid, which has won seven awards altogether, including the Audience Award. Period drama The Chambermaid has been awarded four awards.
The best animation film is Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light and the best documentary is Emília, a film about the Slovak acting legend Emília Vášaryová.
The award ceremony was held at the Slovak Radio building and broadcast live by RTVS. In the speeches, the current political situation and plans to abolish RTVS were repeatedly mentioned. The gala was also attended by Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová.
Named after a 1962 Slovak New Wave film, The Sun in a Net is the national film award. The award ceremony is organized since 2004 by the Slovak Film and Television Academy.
If an election to the European Parliament had been held in the first half of April, Progressive Slovakia would have garnered most votes (27.2%), followed by Smer-SD, (15.2%), and Hlas-SD (14.2%). This follows from a poll conducted by AKO agency on behalf of TV JOJ. The European Parliament election in Slovakia is slated for Saturday, June 8.
This article has been updated on April 27, 6:25 pm.
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