Progressive Slovakia MP Zora Jaurová. (source: TASR)
Zora Jaurová, a shadow culture minister and Progressive Slovakia MP, has been involved in Slovak culture for more than two decades. Today, with the Culture Ministry headed by Martina Šimkovičová, a figure in Slovakia’s disinformation media scene, Jaurová does not hold back in her criticism of the minister.
Šimkovičová, who has repeatedly attacked LGBT+ people and was previously dismissed from a popular television channel for xenophobic comments, has fired several directors, including those of the national theatre and national gallery, without providing evidence to justify her decisions. She also continues to dismantle various departments within the ministry. Despite two highly popular public petitions and summer protests calling for her removal, along with her right-hand man, Lukáš Machala, she remains in her position—thanks to populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.
In an interview with The Slovak Spectator, Jaurová expressed hope that the increased attention on Slovak culture might finally bring it into the national public debate. “Given that Slovak society and community are still relatively young in terms of identity, this debate is perhaps necessary,” she said, briefly touching on the Slovak film industry as well.
If the parliamentary elections last year had gone differently, you probably would have been the culture minister today. Am I right?
Well, that was one of the options.
Watching what’s going on at the Culture Ministry and happening in Slovak culture, including purges in some of the major cultural institutions, how does that make you feel?
Well, the short answer is that the situation is terrible. The longer answer is that, having followed the Slovak cultural sector and its policies for over 20 years, I can say it has faced severe challenges over the decades. However, the current state of despair and incompetence in the sector seems unprecedented, even compared to the Vladimír Mečiar era in the nineties.
It strikes me as both arrogant and cynical that the Slovak National Party appointed Martina Šimkovičová to the Culture Ministry, given her evident lack of capability for the role. Just three months after her appointment, a petition with 189,000 signatures was launched calling for her dismissal. Now, ten months into her tenure, the damage is substantial. The cultural sector is in complete disarray, which is detrimental not only to the country and the sector itself, but also to the voters of the governing party who are cultural workers or audiences.
We’ll see what happens in the autumn, but I find it hard to believe that she can remain in this position for another three years.
There has recently been an extraordinary session of parliament that was called by your party, Progressive Slovakia, to try and call a vote of no confidence in the minister, but the government parties Smer, SNS and Hlas didn’t show up to the session.
Some MPs from Hlas did show up, but they did not participate in the vote. A few were present in the auditorium, which seems to signal something interesting about the current government dynamics.
So some Hlas MPs are more sympathetic to the view that Šimkovičová should be removed?
When we talk to the MPs from the ruling coalition, they all say she’s horrible. It’s like nobody who sees things really as they are in reality can say she is doing well. However, there are a lot of political reasons why it is difficult to remove her.
