MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Thursday, April 25, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Wednesday, April 23): BRATISLAVA - Public-service broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) is to be renamed Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), according to the draft law on STVR approved by the government on Wednesday. The director will be elected by a nine-member council including four nominees from the Culture Ministry. The proposal amending the law on television and radio isn't aimed at dividing the single public institution providing both television and radio broadcasting, but, according to the Culture Ministry, the author of the law, it does create conditions for the independent development of Slovak Television and Slovak Radio. "It will introduce a higher form of flexibility along with new elements and a combination of public and private law into the process of electing and dismissing the general director of the institution and the creation of the STVR council," added the ministry. The ministry defended the proposed changes by pointing to negative experience resulting from the application of the Radio and Television Slovakia Act and comparisons with experience from how public institutions are run abroad, especially elsewhere in Europe. "The submitted draft law is also based on the suggestions of the lay and professional public, which call for an urgent improvement in the performance of the basic functions of the public service with the aim of greater objectivity in broadcasting," added the Culture Ministry. DOLNA KRUPA - Parliament should approve the draft law on Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) before the summer, said Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) following the government's away-from-home session in Dolna Krupa (Trnava region) on Wednesday, adding that the House won't discuss the bill via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. According to Fico, the government approved the draft law practically without comments, and the premier praised the consensus in the coalition, which was preceded by an intensive debate. He reiterated that the current RTVS needs change, as does its management. For the prime minister, the primary argument is the bias shown by RTVS, which is "in a constant battle with the government", and thus in a violation of the citizens' right to objective information. "This is also a response to the demands of the coalition's voters, who are asking us to finally do something about RTVS," said the prime minister. BRATISLAVA - The approval of the Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) Act is a purposeful change driven by the desire to control the public media, the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) said in response to the government's approval of a draft law bringing changes to public-service broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS). "What is happening through this STVR law is a forcible takeover of TV and radio by a narrow group of people - but RTVS belongs to all of us. If the government feels the need and wants to improve the situation in RTVS, we don't need to scrap it and re-establish it, but to submit an amendment that will improve the environment of RTVS," stressed Jozef Hajko, a KDH MP and member of the parliamentary culture and media committee. He also claims that this move was the "last straw" and that the Christian Democrats will join the initiative to oust Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee). KOSICE - The Constitutional Court will examine the constitutionality of the law on this year's state budget. The court at its session on Wednesday accepted for further proceedings a motion filed by a group of opposition MPs who believe that the adopted law is at odds with the Slovak Constitution and the constitutional law on budgetary responsibility. However, the court did not comply with their proposal to suspend the effect of the law. The MPs in their motion objected, among other things, to serious procedural flaws while adopting the law in question. "The contested law is the result of the arbitrary action by the legislator, who, by grossly ignoring the rules of the legislative procedure, seriously violated the constitutional principles of a democratic state, legality, the prohibition of arbitrariness and the protection of free competition of political forces in a democratic society and the resulting constitutional rights of the parliamentary opposition, thereby also causing a violation of the constitutional principle of long-term sustainability of performance and budgetary responsibility," stated the MPs. BRATISLAVA - The preparation of projects designated by the state as strategic investments, including those belonging to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), will be accelerated in line with a law on extraordinary measures for strategic investments and for constructing the TEN-T, which was finally approved by Parliament on Wednesday. MPs discussed the bill via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. The law will be effective on the day of its promulgation. BRATISLAVA - Procedures for felling woody plants are to be simplified, as the Environment Ministry considers this to be an important preventive measure for reducing dangerous encounters between people and bears as well as damage caused by animals to agricultural crops and orchards, according to an amendment to the Nature and Landscape Protection Act, which was approved by the government at its session on Wednesday. The cabinet also recommends that Parliament should approve the proposal via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. "The reason for drafting this bill is primarily the need to reconsider the exemptions set by law when the consent of a nature protection authority isn't required for felling woody plants, so that those statutory exemptions reflect the needs of the population in agricultural and other activities in the countryside, while at the same time ensuring that the interests of nature and landscape protection are protected sufficiently," said the Environment Ministry. am