Fico lashes out at Slovak media, calls for stricter controls

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD/NI) lashed out at major media outlets at a press conference on Tuesday, accusing them of undermining his government and hinting at new possible measures against them, including creating a national media authority.

Fico became visibly angry on Tuesday at a press conference on financing municipalities when a journalist asked him about recent tensions in his ruling coalition.

Standing next to his coalition partners Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas-SD/NI) and Andrej Danko (SNS), Fico said there was no crisis in his coalition and stressed that all agreed-upon laws had been passed.

The prime minister then openly attacked the country’s three largest mainstream outlets, Denník N, Denník SME and Aktuality.sk, which he frequently labels ‘hostile’.

"You just want to do wrong at any cost, and that’s why the atmosphere in Slovakia is like this. Why did they shoot me in the stomach?” Fico asked.

The Smer leader has long had a strained relationship with the media.

In addition to pointing the finger at the "Soros-owned" media and the opposition, in his first speech after the assassination attempt against him in May, Fico has repeatedly lashed out at the press, once calling them "dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes".

On Tuesday, Fico further claimed that since September 2023, when Smer won the parliamentary elections and formed a ruling coalition with SNS and Hlas, the media had not given them a moment's peace.

“From the first day, when the results of the parliamentary elections came, you went against us like bloodthirsty bastards from morning to night,” said Fico.

New potential measures against journalists

The prime minister then said that "sanctions may need to be introduced for not properly correcting false information" in the media, adding that he supports the idea of "establishing a media authority."

He also suggested that there should be a debate on whether journalists should have specific qualifications for their work, such as a university degree or retraining.

“You should also perhaps be part of some professional associations, where you would face disciplinary procedures, similar to lawyers,” said Fico, stressing that his government needs to take action because the media does “whatever it wants.”

“Now comes a time when we have to react to it. (…) There must be a correction, a right of reply," he insisted, adding that "such a media mess as we have in Slovakia doesn’t exist in any other EU country,” he added.

The liberal opposition party Progressive Slovakia (PS/RE) condemned Fico's comments, accusing him of trying to censor the media.

“The idea of a state media authority controlling journalists is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to censor and restrict the media, the likes of which exist perhaps only in North Korea,” said Zora Jaurová, vice-chair of the parliamentary’s culture and media committee.

"Prove that you can help people, improve the lives of those living in Slovakia, and stop babbling about a hellish conspiracy of journalists who are supposedly preventing you from governing," Jaurová added.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)