The Slovak government has approved the closure of state radio and television channels

The Slovak government, led by Social Democrat Robert Fico, approved this Wednesday the closure of public radio and television channel RTVS, which it accuses of subjective and non-independent reporting.

The coalition executive, which included Smer from Fico, also the social democrat Glas and the conservative Slovak National Party, approved the controversial project, which will now be discussed in parliament.

The issue of permanently shutting down public radio and television will be put to a vote there, but the coalition parties have an absolute majority so it is not expected that the project will not move forward.

The vote is expected to take place at the end of June, as the Slovak Prime Minister expected.

The initiative has come under criticism both from the opposition and from journalists critical of Fico’s government, who accuse the executive of wanting to replace RTVS, which they consider objective and independent, with a government-linked propaganda broadcaster.

Several NGOs have already announced they will write to the European Commission and European Parliament asking them to stop the closure of RTVS, and Slovak President Zuzana Caputova, whose term expires in June, has abandoned the measure.

Prime Minister Robert Fico and Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, who initiated the measure, have repeatedly criticized RTVS management for alleged bias and tried to fire the broadcaster’s CEO.

However, Slovak legislation prevented this maneuver, since the head of public radio and television was elected for a term until 2027.

The executive branch is trying to circumvent the situation by replacing RTVS with a new television company, STVR.

In addition to the name change, the government proposal includes the appointment of a director-general of radio and television through a multi-member board, three of whom were selected by the Ministry of Culture, and also advocates the creation of a board to oversee the program.