WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday announced that he had vetoed a controversial media control law, saying he shared the concerns of some Poles over freedom of expression and saying that the enactment of this text risked compromising relations with Washington.
While deeming “judicious” to limit foreign participation in media groups, Andrzej Duda explained during a televised speech that such a measure should not concern the existing media.
“I share the opinion that this provision should be adopted in Poland, but for future investments,” he said.
“This bill and its amendments concerned entities already present on the market (…). There is also the question of media pluralism, freedom of expression. I took this into account by taking my decision, ”he said.
Adopted this month by parliament in a surprise ballot, this new law passed by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) aims to restrict foreign investment in Polish media by preventing companies from leaving it. European Economic Area to hold a majority stake in it.
PiS spokeswoman Anita Czerwinska told the state-run PAP news agency that the party was “disappointed” by the decision but acknowledged that the law “needs clarification in order to be applied in accordance with equivalent practices of others. country”.
Andrzej Duda was elected with the backing of the ruling nationalists but his veto could jeopardize his relations with the government.
The Polish opposition denounced this text which in its eyes constitutes an attack on press freedom and a maneuver by the ultraconservatives in power to muzzle TVN24, a private television channel owned by the American group Discovery which has not adopted a pro-government line.
“This is a victory for the Polish people,” Discovery said in a statement. “We congratulate the president for doing the right thing and for standing up for the democratic values of a free press and the rule of law.”
This project has accentuated the tensions between Warsaw and Brussels, already in conflict for several years over the reform of the Polish judicial system.
This decision could also avoid a conflict in Warsaw with the United States when tensions are already high in the region around what several Western countries see as growing pressure from Russia.
(Report Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, French version Myriam Rivet and Dina Kartit, edited by Marc Angrand)