Reporters Without Borders concerned about Slovakia

The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced on Tuesday that it harbours concerns regarding the current situation in Slovakia, six months after the murders of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová on February 21. A statement, sent to media by head of RSF Brussels branch Julie Majerczak, asserts that the investigation into the double murder "has ground to a standstill" and any promises about protecting journalists have been forgotten. "We'd need a miracle to see successful results in the investigation into the murder of Jan Kuciak," the text quotes one of the murdered journalist's colleagues as saying. The NGO, tasked with defending the freedom of the press and media, is also concerned about the increasingly worsening climate for the media, indicative of the lack of political will to allow Slovak journalists to work safely, wrote RSF. In this context, Slovak journalists pointed out that the kind of language used by Government officials in their communications with journalists since Kuciak's murder has been harsher than ever before. According to latest RSF global index on the freedom of press, Slovakia has dropped ten places in comparison to 2017 and now ranks 27th out of the 180 monitored countries.