FILE PHOTO: Slovakia's newly appointed Prime Minister Robert Fico attends the new cabinet's inauguration, at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia, October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa/File Photo
(Reuters) - Slovak government's plans to cut funding to state broadcaster RTVS and divide the group into radio and television units will undermine its independence and threaten media freedom, a group of press freedom organisations said on Wednesday.
In an open letter to Slovakia's president, lawmakers and copied to the culture minister, the groups said that new Prime Minister Robert Fico has declared an intention to impose control over RTVS and the funding plans hit press freedom progress.
"The unexpected decrease of RTVS's annual funding... creates a pressure on the public media to seek extra subsidies at risk of concessions on its independence, the letter said, according to a copy on Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) website.
The government office and the Culture Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The letter - signed by RSF, International Press Institute, European Federation of Journalists, Free Press Unlimited, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and European Broadcasting Union - appealed to lawmakers to reject the funding cuts and find a sustainable financing system.
Fico became prime minister for a fourth time last month, heading a leftist-nationalist coalition after an election in which he attacked liberal policies, Slovakia's Western allies and media critical of him and his SMER-SSD party.
Last month, he stopped communication with four leading domestic news outlets after accusing them of failing to provide truthful information.
His government is proposing, as part of budget savings, to cut the broadcaster's funding to 0.12% of gross domestic product from 0.17%. It has also announced plans to split it into TV and radio services saying it wanted to secure independent reporting and support original Slovak programming.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
