I do not hope that President Pellegrini will veto the cancellation of RTVS — Denník N

I felt both nostalgia and sadness, says Ľuboš Machaj, its director, about the parliament’s vote that abolished the public RTVS.

In the interview, he also talks about:

• why the management of RTVS did not join the strike of television and radio workers;
• whether the new STVR will still be public or will be a state media;
• who could be the new director of STVR;
• what is he going to do in his final days as CEO;
• whether he plans to go into politics.

Did you watch the final vote on Thursday evening, by which the coalition canceled the public RTVS?

I admit that I watched some things during the day, but not the final vote. I knew how it would turn out, so I just waited for the news to see how many upvotes there were, but I didn’t follow it anymore.

What was the first thing that came to your mind when you realized that this was the definitive end of RTVS?

It was such a mixture – also relaxation, because I told myself that it was already decided and all the things for which the previous weeks were tense were already finished, but there was also nostalgia. It’s not easy that I’m leaving like this after two years. Two years ago, on June 30, the parliament elected me, and my mandate ends on June 30, so that’s a two-year anniversary. I felt both nostalgia and sadness.

After the vote and cancellation of RTVS, did the Minister of Culture Martina Šimkovičová (SNS), who advocated for the cancellation of RTVS, contact you?

No, she didn’t contact. I was with her only once at the beginning, when she took office. We said some basic things to each other, then we saw each other at some events, and that too exceptionally, and we didn’t contact each other.

Were you surprised by some members of the coalition who voted for the abolition of RTVS? I mean, for example, former Minister of Culture Ľubica Laššáková from Hlas.