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7 clusters · 22 sources · 65 days · First seen 3 months ago · Last updated 15 days ago

RTV Slovenija financial and leadership crisis

Overview

RTV Slovenija continues to navigate a severe liquidity crisis and intense legislative disputes. While the broadcaster has relied on state treasury loans to cover payroll, legal battles persist over funding. In September 2026, the Administrative Court of Slovenia upheld a previous decision from June 3 by former Minister of Culture Asta Vrečko, which approved approximately 3.5 million euros for music production. This ruling temporarily suspended a supplementary decision by the current Ministry of Culture. Simultaneously, the National Council for Culture is reviewing proposed amendments to the RTV Slovenija Act and the Media Act. These changes aim to restructure management by potentially replacing the current board with a director and a programming council. The Ministry of Culture maintains these reforms will ensure efficiency and institutional independence. However, the Journalists’ Union of Slovenia and the Coordination of Journalists’ Unions at RTV Slovenija have called for the withdrawal of the proposals, arguing they would subordinate the media to political authorities. In early October 2026, Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners warned that proposed structural changes could concentrate appointment powers within the executive branch, potentially breaching the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). They argued that abolishing the current funding model without a protected alternative could jeopardize financial stability. Following a consultative referendum on October 11 regarding the abolition of the mandatory licence fee, unofficial results showed a razor-thin margin. According to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), 50.04 percent of counted votes oppose the abolition, while 49.96 percent support it. The Ministry of Culture described the electorate as “extremely polarized,” suggesting the results reflect a loss of public trust in RTV Slovenija leadership.

Entities

RTV Slovenija · Ministry of Culture · Natalija Gorščak · Slovenia · Slovenian Democratic Party

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

[● 6 SOURCES] The Ministry of Culture has submitted draft amendments to the media law and the RTVS law for inter-ministerial coordination.
[● 5 SOURCES] Media outlets connected in programming networks would be excluded from the financial support system.
[● 5 SOURCES] The draft would remove provisions regarding influence and punitive sanctions for promoting violence or hatred in the media.
[● 5 SOURCES] Competence for assessing market concentrations would be transferred to the national regulator, AKOS.
[● 5 SOURCES] Provisions for disclosing actual media ownership would be amended so that only a natural person can be listed as the actual owner.
[● 5 SOURCES] The possibility of funding non-governmental organizations in the public interest within the media sector would be abolished.
[● 4 SOURCES] The proposed RTVS law would replace the four-member management board with a single general director.
[● 4 SOURCES] The RTVS council would be restructured into a programming council, and the current financial committee would be replaced by a supervisory board.

Timeline

15 days ago

[POLITICS] 7 sources
Slovenia debates RTV fee referendum and media law changes
Slovenia faces political tension following a referendum on RTV fees and proposed legislative changes that could centralize control over public broadcaster RTV SLO within government institutions.
21 days ago

[POLITICS] 3 sources
Slovenia: Media advocates warn of risks to RTV Slovenija independence
Media freedom advocates warn that proposed funding changes and structural reforms in Slovenia could undermine the independence of the public broadcaster, RTV Slovenija, violating EU media laws.
about 1 month ago

[POLITICS] 3 sources
RTV Slovenija faces legislative overhaul and independence concerns
Slovenia's National Council for Culture is debating new legislative proposals for RTV Slovenija and the Media Act, amid warnings from unions regarding political interference and media independence.
about 2 months ago

[POLITICS] 4 sources
Slovenian court upholds RTV Slovenija music production funding
The Slovenian Administrative Court suspended a Ministry of Culture decision, upholding a previous approval of 3.5 million euros for RTV Slovenija's music production funding.
2 months ago

[POLITICS] 10 sources
Slovenia Ministry of Culture proposes new media and RTVS laws
Slovenia's Ministry of Culture has proposed new media and RTVS laws, seeking to restructure RTVS management and overhaul media financial support and ownership disclosure rules.
2 months ago

[BUSINESS] 2 sources
RTV Slovenija faces liquidity crisis amid high viewership
RTV Slovenija faces a critical liquidity crisis and significant debt despite reporting record viewership reach of 93.3 percent of the Slovenian population.
3 months ago

[BUSINESS] 2 sources
RTV Slovenija faces financial crisis and leadership disputes
RTV Slovenija faces a deep financial crisis characterized by high labor costs and liquidity issues, alongside legal and political disputes regarding its restructuring and governance.

Sources

24sata.hr · 24ur.com · dalmatinskiportal.hr · delo.si · demokracija.si · ecpmf.eu · europesays.com · ljnovice.si · megafon.si · meinegemeinde.vol.at · mfrr.eu · mladina.si · moja-dolenjska.si · n1info.si · nova24tv.si · otvoreno.me · primorske.si · slovenskenovice.si · times.si · tjedno.hr · tockanai.hr · vijesti.hrt.hr

This summary has been updated 7 times: see revision history