In reaction to the European Commission's 2021 rule of law report on Slovakia, which pointed to several recorded verbal attacks on journalists and the media both by coalition and opposition politicians, the governing OLaNO and For the People parties have condemned attacks against journalists.
The OLaNO party claimed that its representatives and the entire Government strongly condemn verbal and any other forms of attacks that threaten journalists. It also stated that systematic measures are improving conditions for their work. "At the same time, we're also improving transparency, and we're involving the public in changes concerning the media," said OLaNO.
The For the People party claimed that it highly values impartial and balanced reporting by every media outlet. "At no time have any of our representatives dared to attack the media, even when our views differed from those of certain media outlets," stated the party.
Along the same lines, several opposition parties have concurred that attacks on journalists by politicians contribute to the erosion of the public's trust in state institutions.
Meanwhile, the extra-parliamentary Most-Hid party has stated that constant questioning of the work of journalists creates space for hoaxes and misinformation. "Both coalition and opposition politicians should realise that the pandemic isn't an election campaign," stated Most-Hid. According to the party, chaotic management of the state during the pandemic has injected a huge amount of mistrust into society and representatives of both the coalition and opposition have deepened this problem by attacking the media and journalists.
