Several non-governmental organisations are worried that Slovakia’s law on access to public information, the so-called Freedom of Information act, might be weakened, the Sme daily wrote on June 5, saying that Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák wants to open the law for parliamentary discussion.
The ministry told Sme that it only wants to include text from a European Union directive from 2003 on the right of people to public information, stating that Brussels is pressuring Slovakia because it has failed to incorporate text from the directive into its national law after almost ten years.
Peter Kunder of the Fair-Play Alliance, a political ethics watchdog group, told Sme that the EU directive can be passed as a separate law and the organisation is calling on citizens to sign a petition against the law’s opening by parliament. The petition has received 100 signatures thus far but at least 500 are needed, according to the NGO.
The alliance said that if the ministry opens the law for discussion, MPs would make more changes – ones that could curb the accessibility of information – and due to a lack of time, the ministry would not be able to stop these kinds of amendments.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
