Robert Fico’s media law: a populist attack on public broadcasting
In April 2024, Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, oversaw the dismantling of one of the most popular media outlets in the country, RTVS—The Radio and Television of Slovakia. Fico claimed that the broadcaster was biased, subjective, and not serving the interests of the Slovak people. After approximately two months of debate, the parliament approved the law, resulting in the abolition of the network and its renaming as the Slovak Television and Radio (STVR).
This process was far from smooth and uncontested; mass protests erupted in the main square of the capital, Bratislava. Thousands of citizens joined the protests, condemning the law as anti-democratic and as an attempt by the government to consolidate its control over the media. Citizens, members of the political opposition, and even the president of Slovakia argued that silencing the independent media was against democratic values and fueling Slovakia’s democratic backsliding, placing the country on Hungary and Russia’s path. The international society and media advocacy groups added their voices as well. Critics denounced the law with headlines and phrases describing it as “Orbanisation”, “a black day” for Slovakia, “the disgrace and disrespect to the democracy”, and “a populist strategy.” STVR (formerly RTVS) was never the same after the law. A March 2025 report underscores for example the decline of Slovaks’ trust in STVR’s reporting. Today, half of the population perceives SRTV as a non-trustworthy broadcaster and opposes the government intervention in its editorial and reporting policy.
The law against RTVS is considered a significant attack on the media. The media environment in Slovakia can still be classified as free; however, polarization remains an issue. RTVS stood as an exception among a media landscape suffering from polarization and relatively low public trust. The outlet was well known for its journalistic investigations, insights, and political news. It uncovered government scandals, such as Prime Minister Fico’s early connections to oligarchs and even some criminals. It served as a platform for opposing statements, allegations, accusations, and to discuss everyday issues affecting ordinary Slovaks (ebu.ch, 2024).
Fico’s attacks on independent media, which he has described as a “servant of corrupt elites,” “foreign agents,” and “biased,” come directly from the populist playbook. According to Jan-Werner Müller (2016), populist leaders argue that there is a powerful dichotomy between a “corrupt elite” and a “pure people.” Generally, populists do not provide empirical evidence, data, or any kind of source to support their claims. They simply claim that they are the only true representatives of the people, their interests, and opinions. Therefore, the object of populists’ attacks can be political opponents, civil society, and other institutions.
Shutting down an independent network—portrayed as a representative and servant of a corrupt elite—illustrates the populist nature of Fico’s government. According to the prime minister, RTVS was a biased factory that echoed the cruel intentions of the elite, threatening “real” people. The accusations did not end here. In his first reaction to the new law, Fico further described RTVS as a public enemy and a traitor of the people’s interests, underscoring the importance of “objective information” and the violation of the people’s rights. These statements illustrate another key characteristic of populism, according to Muller (2016): anti-pluralism. This feature of populism refers to denying the legitimacy of any opposing thought, opinion, or action, which is showcased in Fico’s actions and messages. Anti-pluralism encompasses the perception of opponents as not only rivals, but also enemies, and traitors whose actions threaten a “pure” people.
Ultimately, the prime minister accomplished what he desired, as the media landscape has been transformed and is today a shadow of what it used to be. Meanwhile, other populist leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić have also tried to attack the media, using the same narratives, framing them as “enemies of the state.” Today’s populists seem to follow a similar pattern of muzzling the free press after categorizing them as voices of evil elites. Fico is a mighty representative of this tendency.
According to Levitsky and Ziblatt (2018), threatening and oppressing the media is a key feature of autocratizing regimes. The most recent reports of V-Dem (2025) and Freedom House (2025), which highlighted the prime minister’s attacks on the media, have shown that Slovakia is displaying early signs of autocratization. In that lens, Fico’s actions are directly contributing to Slovakia’s democratic backsliding.
References
apnews.com. (2024). apnews.com. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/slovakia-public-broadcasting-protest-fico
apnews.com. (2025). apnews.com. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/hungary-orban-crackdown-media-ngo
balkaninsight.com. (2024). balkaninsight.com. Retrieved from https://balkaninsight.com/2024/06/21/critics-slam-passing-of-slovak-government-bill-to-dissolve-public-broadcaster
domov.sme.sk. (2025, March 25). domov.sme.sk. Retrieved from https://domov.sme.sk/c/23470063/polovica-ludi-uz-teraz-neveri-ze-spravodajstvo-stvr-je-vyvazene.html
ebu.ch. (2024). ebu.ch. Retrieved from https://www.ebu.ch/news/2024/03/slovak-government-proposals-threaten-media-independence
euobserver.com. (2025). euobserver.com. Retrieved from https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ardd7db9e1
freedomhouse.org. (2025). Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/country/slovakia/freedom-world/2025
idea.int. (2024). idea.int. Retrieved from https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/report/slovakia/june-2024
ipi.media. (2025, February 20). ipi.media. Retrieved from https://ipi.media/slovakia-new-report-highlights-growing-media-freedom-crisis/
Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How Democracies Die.
Muller, J.-W. (2016). What is Populism?
reuters.com. (2024). reuters.com. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovakias-government-pushes-ahead-with-contested-revamp-public-broadcaster-2024-04-24
spectator.sme.sk. (2024). spectator.sme.sk. Retrieved from https://spectator.sme.sk/politics-and-society/c/news-digest-trust-in-media-among-slovaks-is-at-a-record-low-report-suggests
theguardian.com. (2023). theguardian.com. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/15/slovakian-media-express-alarm-after-prime-minister-robert-fico-threatens-to-restrict-access
V-Dem-Institute. (2025). 25 Years of Autocratization – Democracy Trumped? University of Gothenburg.
I agree that Robert Fico’s decision to dismantle RTVS paves the way for polarization and populism, as it is to be replaced by STVR (Slovak Television and Radio). Slovakia has the opportunity to counter these anti-democratic behaviors through the power of the Constitutional Court; however, parliament is densely controlled by Fico, severely limiting these checks on power. His abuse of power, using legal institutions to console power across the country further emphasizes how he is using the “legal system to maintain control over the populace,” creating laws that enforce compliance with the authoritarian government; a method of stealth authoritarianism (Varol, 2014). Fico is not only undermining media freedom, but also weaking democratic safeguards from within.
Hi! I agree that the dismantling of RTVS continues Slovakia’s democratic backsliding. Not only is censorship of the press a significant issue within democracies, but I am even more concerned that the courts passed this legislation to ban it. This shows that the courts are now working with the current administration instead of exercising proper checks and balances to make sure that democratic ideals are being kept. You make a good point that Slovakia is following in the footsteps of Hungary, Russia, and Serbia. All of these countries are doing similar things with their media censorship and have each been good case studies of democratic backsliding. Fico brings a lot of concerning behavior starting with him being a populist leader. However, as he has started infiltrating the rest of the government to push his ideas, Slovakia is in trouble when it comes to saving its democratic ideals. I am interested to see if other countries in this region are also going to see more democratic backsliding, as it seems to be a new “trend.” I have been looking at what is going on in Serbia and they have been corresponding with Orban of Hungary and becoming more and more authoritarian. I am interested to see if more countries in this region will start to shift away from democracy. This might be an even more concerning trend than we are currently aware of.
Hi Tornike, this is a fantastic article on the state of media in Slovakia. Your characterization of populist attacks as needing only faith in the populist leader, and not needing evidence, was poignant and well done. The connections you draw between the media oppression in Slovakia and that in Russia and Hungary raises worrying trends; this is further reinforced by your continued referencing to the populist playbook.
After reading about how significant the attack on RTVS was, I was surprised by how recent reports characterized Slovakia as being in the early stages of autocratization. From your research, do you see Slovakia as an outlier for completely dismantling the nations largest news source so early in the autocratization process?