SLOVAKIA: Media Bill Threatens EU Treaty

By Zoltán Dujisin Reprint | | Print |

Zoltán Dujisin

PRAGUE, Feb 8 2008 (IPS) - Slovakia’s opposition is endangering approval of the EU Treaty through its protest against a media bill that it claims will endanger freedom of speech in Slovakia.

Slovakia is governed by a the Smer (Direction) Socialists in coalition with two smaller parties, the populist Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) of former prime minister Vladimir Meciar and the extreme-right Slovak National Party.

The three parties are short of five votes to fulfil Prime Minister Robert Fico’s desire to be second only to Hungary in approving the EU Treaty on institutional reform.

EU Countries should ratify the Lisbon Treaty by December 2008.

The right-wing opposition forces, in spite of their predominantly pro-European stances, are however blocking approval of the Treaty in protest against a media bill that they claim will endanger freedom of speech in Slovakia.

The opposition’s stance is supported by various media organisations and international bodies such as Freedom House and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) of former prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda and the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) want the press bill to be in conformity with OSCE comments, and demand that the coalition treat the opposition in a dignified manner.

“We are requesting that totalitarian practices and undemocratic manners disappear and, as an expression of goodwill, we are demanding an agreement on the press bill,” Dzurinda recently told the press.

The governing coalition says the new law will make the media more trustworthy and professional by introducing a broadly formulated right to response and fines of up to 6,000 euro against those who publish information that condones or supports behaviour unacceptable to society.

While the right to response is common in various European countries, the Slovak law is controversial in that it forces media to publish anyone’s reaction even to true information.

Another controversial aspect of the law is the Culture Ministry’s authority to impose fines on papers according to its own moral judgement.

Fico has been involved in a long-lasting war with the media, thus increasing journalists’ fears the law is meant as a form of revenge against them.

“This right to response is formulated in a way that is very restrictive for media in advance. Publishers and journalists will think twice before publishing even true information, and it will impose a certain internal censorship,” Grigorij Meseznikov, president of the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava told IPS.

“For publishers it is also a financial issue, but for journalists it will create an unacceptable environment for their work,” the analyst added.

OSCE representative on freedom of media Miklos Haraszti claimed in a letter addressed to Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis that the draft law contained sections that would “severely restrict editorial autonomy.”

But after initially saying that the press bill would not be withdrawn, and accusing the OSCE of acting politically, the Culture Ministry has conceded it will consider the OSCE’s objections following a meeting with the international body’s representatives.

Government officials deny this is the result of opposition demands, but the opposition has perceived the coalition’s reviewed stance as one of its first victories against the pro-government groupings.

Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic has criticised the opposition for boycotting ratification of the EU Treaty in parliament, and said it should take any reservations on the media bill to the Constitutional Court.

The Prime Minister had even harsher words for the opposition in a comment published by the Slovak daily Sme: “Associating the press bill, about which a standard debate will take place in the National Council, as is customary in a democracy, with the Treaty of Lisbon lacks any logic and is nothing other than blackmail and taking Slovak citizens as hostages in order to achieve political goals.”

HZDS leader Vladimir Meciar, on the other hand, said he would propose a referendum on the Treaty, though not even his coalition partners have welcomed this idea.

The parties boycotting the vote have said they do not intend to reject the treaty, but just to delay its vote until their conditions are met.

Both government and opposition politicians have admitted to conversations with Brussels officials, who are apparently concerned over the EU Treaty’s fate being partly in Slovak hands.

Many analysts have noted that the current standoff is a sign of the lack of dialogue between the two political camps and the growing polarisation of positions.

“There is no consensus on basic issues, opposition parties have been completely marginalised since the last elections,” notes Meseznikov, who also voiced his concern over the “illiberal” tendencies of those in power.

However, he says the latest controversy is likely to be solved given the mounting international pressure, but only after the coalition parties find a way to save face. “They are preparing how to justify the fact they will make some concession,” he told IPS. “For them non-approval of the EU treaty would be a catastrophe.”