MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, May 4, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, May 3): BRATISLAVA - The coordination commission of Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) employees' initiative for public character and independence submitted open letters to lawmakers of Parliament, urging them to vote down the bill on Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) on Friday. "With this formal act [...] we'd like to show that as employees we care about being able to work in a free institution," explained member of the commission Tomas Bartonek. He pointed out that the letters were symbolically submitted on the World Press Freedom Day. The letter authors argue that the bill on STVR raises concerns not only about the future of unbiased news reporting but also the overall trustworthiness and standing of the public broadcaster in Slovakia. These concerns were expressed by hundreds of employees of the Radio and Television Slovakia, pointing out that criticism has been voiced also by foreign media and protests from respected public figures. The RTVS employees warned lawmakers that weakening of the public broadcaster's standing will only deepen concerns about the rule of law in Slovakia and the level of its democracy in the eyes of partners, including the European Commission. "That might have negative economic impacts, which will be borne by all inhabitants of Slovakia, hence even your voters," reads the letter. The employees believe that it's necessary for the success of Slovakia and all its people to have media that are genuinely free, independent and which report only true and verified information. BRUSSELS/BRATISLAVA - The European Commission confirmed its commitment to support the freedom and plurality of the media in the EU and beyond on the occasion of the Free Press World Day, with Vice-president for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova pointing out that some directives on the protection of journalists will come into effect as early as next week, TASR learnt from its special correspondent in Brussels on Friday. The Commission warned that journalists in the EU member states have been facing attacks of growing frequency, which is why it has passed specific measures and set up the protection of journalists as one of its key priorities in the sphere of the media. The new rules, set to come into effect on Monday, May 6, will be aimed against the so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, with an eye towards helping journalists and human rights defenders face the misuse of legal action against them. On Tuesday, May 7, the Media Freedom Act will come into effect and introduce additional guarantees concerning media independence, plurality, transparency, justice and better cooperation of media bodies via the newfound European Board for Media Services. BRATISLAVA - Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) thanked on Friday his Spanish counterpart Margarite Robles Fernandez for her country's contribution to the NATO multi-national battle group in Slovakia, TASR learnt from the ministry press department on the same day. Kalinak also praised the decision by the Spanish side to take over the military command of this group from the Czech Republic as of July. "The Spanish soldiers have commended Slovak hospitality and the mutual cooperation and conditions of the Lest training centre, which is a modern training facility of the European format," added the minister. Kalinak announced that the deployment of the Spanish contingent has been undertaken gradually since January and up to 780 Spanish soldiers with their equipment will be stationed in Slovakia as of July. The minister declared that Spanish and Slovak soldiers demonstrated their readiness to defend the NATO territory during recent Strong Cohesion 2024 military exercise that tested the compatibility of their joint operation approaches to defensive military actions. Kalinak underlined that Slovakia cannot rely on collective defence alone, however, but must in accordance with the NATO treaty invest energy and effort to develop its individual capabilities more extensively as a basis for the collective capacity to fend off a military attack. BRATISLAVA - The re-education centres in the villages of Bystricany (Trencin region) and Trstin (Trnava region) will be closed, and the children should be transferred to other facilities by the end of June, said Education, Research, Development and Youth Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) on Friday. The minister also presented specific steps involving systemic measures aimed at improving the situation in re-education centres in Slovakia. These include, for example, the setting up of an SOS line and staff retraining. BRUSSELS/BRATISLAVA - The European Union has undergone changes over the past 20 years, since Slovakia has been a part of it; it is different from the time at which we joined it, and its further enlargement is being prepared under completely different circumstances, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal, Inter-institutional Relations and Strategic Perspective Maros Sefcovic has said in an interview with TASR. The Slovak commissioner pointed out that over the past two decades the Union has gone through several crises that have shaped it, pointing out that economists would certainly be able to compare where the Slovak economy and currency could have been if the country hadn't become part of the Union and the eurozone. Sefcovic maintains that Slovakia and the other Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) have become an important economic belt during this period and that the GDP of the whole EU has grown partly thanks to the economies of the new member states. "When we look at the links between the economies of Western Europe, but especially Germany, and the economies of Central Europe, we can see that supply chains have been created that operate across Europe and are of global importance. This wouldn't have happened if we weren't in a single market in which we aren't divided by borders," he stressed. The celebration of the EU's biggest enlargement is, in his view, an opportune moment to reflect on future enlargements. He noted that 20 years ago it was a simpler process - candidate countries were closer to the EU in terms of living standards than the current candidates are. The move took place in a period of peace and after thorough preparation. "We submitted our application in 1993 and joined the Union in 2004. There were intensive negotiations. We had to transpose just over 100,000 pages of European laws into national law. Today, there are over 150 000 pages. The Union has evolved over 20 years, and it's all taking place in a different atmosphere. We have two military conflicts close to our borders and rather tight budgets after trying to manage extraordinary crises," he explained. The process of the next enlargement will look slightly different, he said, with more emphasis on preparedness, not only of the candidates but also of the current member states. This is partly to avoid the same feeling as the one 20 years ago, when the inhabitants of the original member states were surprised by enlargement. Now we'll be dealing with larger countries, which is the case with Ukraine in particular, with a much greater difference in living standards and with new challenges. "The reward for these efforts should be a consolidated European continent with a larger population and a solidly built economic and security structure for the 21st century," stated Sefcovic. mf