Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová during a visit to eastern Slovakia on January 23, 2024. (source: TASR)
Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová has scrapped a ban on communication and cooperation with Russia and Belarus.
The ban was introduced on March 2, 2022, just a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Then culture minister, Natália Milanová (OĽaNO), signed the decision. It concerned the public institutions falling under the ministry.
However, for a week, the ban has been lifted, according to the Pravda daily.
“There are dozens of military conflicts in the world, and in our opinion, artists and culture should not pay the price for them,” Šimkovičová’s spokesperson Pavol Čorba told Pravda.
Šimkovičová is one of the two notorious faces of TV Slovan (now called Martina a Peter on Facebook) which spreads pro-Russian and disinformation narratives. The other person is anti-vaxxer and MP Peter Kotlár, appointed last week as the commissioner for investigating the management of the coronavirus pandemic.
Roman Michelko, a chair of the culture and media parliamentary committee, thinks that culture should not be censored.
“The innocent are being punished and that is sick. Ideology should not interfere with culture. Russian artists should not be discriminated against or ostracised because of the regime in power,” the chair said, noting that he would see a problem in cooperating with artists who are obvious Russian propagandists.
Like himself, Kotlár and Šimkovičová are affiliated with the Slovak National Party. Its chair, Andrej Danko, holds pro-Russian views and is frequently described as a Putin admirer.
According to writer Michal Hvorecký, the startitup website writes, the minister’s decision means “approving and supporting Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine, which is also a brutal war against culture.”
Ministry questions petition, cancels Facebook page
In the meantime, the minister has received backlash in the form of a petition signed by more than 170,000 people in several days. Šimkovičová is criticised for her non-transparent decisions and constant attacks on the LGBT+ community.
“Instead of necessary reforms, you create manipulative and empty culture wars, mainly by inciting homophobia, transphobia and the stigmatisation of LGBT+ people and initiatives,” the petition reads.
For example, the minister asked on Facebook last week whether the ministry should support LGBT+ projects or heritage sites. Criticism soon appeared under the published poll. A day later, the petition was launched.
In response to criticism, the Culture Ministry removed all the posts that appeared on the ministry’s Facebook page since Šimkovičová's appointment. The minister wrote on Telegram that the Facebook page has reportedly been under cyber threats since November 2023.
But the ministry also questioned the petition and decided to file a criminal complaint. It suspects that the online petition has been manipulated.
Fico stands up for minister
PM Robert Fico (Smer) stood up for Šimkovičová on Tuesday, explaining that she fulfils the government programme.
“I don’t see any reason for the government to take a step against the minister,” he said.
The culture minister seems to be unbothered by the petition. On her Facebook page, she shared a screenshot from the petition that shows a person signed as Pamela Anderson under the petition.
“Pamela Anderson, why did you do this to me? We were friends,” Šimkovičová joked, and added a few photos with Anderson.
