The Director General of Radio & Television Slovakia (RTVS) said she will complain to Slovakia's Constitutional Court about her dismissal by parliament on Tuesday, which she describes as an "illegal expression of political power".

"The fact that I was elected by the previous parliament is the real and only reason behind the decision," Ms Zemkova said in a letter distributed on Wednesday to the EBU, to European deputies and the European Commission.

In a letter of support, EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre described Ms Zemkova's removal as "a sign of increasing interference and political pressure which will destabilize public service media". She said the EBU would continue to back her case.

Although Slovakia's Committee for Culture & Media last week unanimously adopted the RTVS Annual Report for 2011, the Committee's chairman later proposed that Ms Zemkova be dismissed for not informing the RTVS Board of a tender.

Ms Zemkova contests that, according to legal advice from three sources, she was not obliged to provide the information.

"The independence and responsibility of public service media must not be influenced by politicians," Ms Zemkova wrote in today's letter. "I cannot defend myself using any political means, so I have decided to file a qualified complaint to the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic."

In a letter to Ms Zemkova last week, Ms Deltenre made clear it was not for the EBU to defend the position of any individual, but that the Union stood for independence for public service broadcasters, for non-interference by elected politicians, and for just process.

"It would be a great shame if the cause and practice of independent public service broadcasting were to be betrayed by the Slovak Republic so soon after it joined the European Union," she wrote.

The EBU Director General also congratulated Ms Zemkova for her success in merging Slovak TV & Radio since January 2011, and for investing the resultant savings in additional programming.