In June, they changed the funding, abolishing the fees and tying the budget to GDP instead. It was agreed it would be 0.17% of GDP, significantly increasing the funds compared to previous years. That's why the broadcaster was optimistic about returning to ESC in 2025, I guess.
In December, the new government cut it down to 0.12% of GDP, decreasing the budget by 55M €. Last month, the new government came with a proposal to reform the public broadcaster - basically the composition of the council and the way of its election are to be changed, as well as the election of the Director, who could be dismissed without giving any reason. A new body, the Programme Council, is also to be created, with the power to control broadcasting and to intervene in news and other broadcasts. It's a first step in turning RTVS into state broadcaster, so they can have direct political control over it and spew their propaganda. They are not coming back anytime soon.
We are highly concerned by Slovak government proposals which threaten the editorial independence of our Member RTVS
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