Polish President Andrzej Duda has vetoed an internationally controversial new broadcasting law designed to limit foreign influence on the media. He refused to sign it in this form, said the 49-year-old in Warsaw on Monday.
Limiting access
The parliament passed the law shortly before Christmas with a majority of the national conservative government. The Sejm, Poland’s lower house, could reject the president’s veto with a three-fifths majority. Both the EU Commission and the US government had warned of dangers to media freedom because of the law.
According to critics, the amendment was aimed at the private broadcaster TVN, which is part of the US group Discovery. The news channel takes a critical line towards the national conservative ruling party Law and Justice (PiS). The draft stipulated that in future broadcasting licenses may only be issued to foreigners if they have their headquarters or residence in the European Economic Area. In addition, the licensee must not be dependent on someone who is headquartered or resident outside of it.
Media pluralism and freedom of expression
The national conservative Duda appealed to the Sejm to find more suitable solutions to limit the participation of foreign companies in the media market. In his criticism, he referred, among other things, to the treaty between the USA and Poland on trade and economic relations of 1990. Duda emphasized that he had also dealt extensively with questions of media pluralism and freedom of expression. He also referred to the increasing polarization of society in Poland. “Most of my compatriots, most of my fellow citizens, do not want any more arguments,” he said, according to the PAP agency.
The pressure from the streets and from abroad made sense, wrote the Polish opposition leader and former EU Council President Donald Tusk on Twitter. Krzysztof Gawkowski, the group leader of the Left (Lewica), however, expressed the fear that the topic was not yet closed.
A PiS spokeswoman emphasized that they were disappointed with the president’s decision. Poland must protect its media market from “excessive foreign capital”. Tens of thousands of people recently took to the streets in Warsaw and other cities against the planned media law. They carried posters with slogans such as “Free media, free people, free Poland” and “We have a right to the truth”. The US was “extremely disappointed” with the passage of the law. The broadcaster TVN had spoken of an “unprecedented attack on the free media”. Poland ranks 64th in a global ranking of press freedom by Reporters Without Borders.
(kbe)