Slovenia has climbed nine places on the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders to rank 33rd among 180 countries. While this is its best rating in five years, journalists warn that the media landscape remains problematic and that the score is still fairly low for an EU country.

The current government is not openly hostile to the media and journalists, but they are still subject to political pressure "especially by means of the smear campaigns carried out by certain opposition politicians on social media," says the report released on 2 May.

Press freedom is protected by a solid legal framework that should be further improved once the EU Media Freedom Act is implemented via the new Media Act, the organisation notes, but adds that the legislation has been criticised as lacking safeguards against potential abuse by authoritarian governments.

In what is a long-standing complaint, Reporters Without Borders also says defamation has not been decriminalised yet, allowing politicians to initiate strategic lawsuits against public participation against the media.

Journalists pessimistic

The Association of Slovenian Journalists welcomed the progress but noted that the index referred to 2024, when the new Media Act was being drafted, and the government approved a minimal increase in the licence fee for public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

Since then, several media have laid off editorial staff and economic factors have conspired to threaten the very existence of journalism. "The result appears like calm before the storm. What the media are experiencing this year, from layoffs to pressure, will definitely affect the index next year," the association's president Gašper Andrinek said.

Overall, press freedom in Slovenia remains fragile even if it has improved, according to Reporters Without Borders, and the country is ranked 18th among the 27 EU member states.

"We are still in the bottom half of EU rankings. What is more, Slovenia's progress is partially the consequence of worse rankings of countries such as Slovakia," the Association of Slovenian Journalists said.

Slovenia scored 74.06 points, up from 72.6 points the year before.