This law, proposed by the Populist Government on the right, aimed to prohibit control by extra-European companies of Polish media. What is the case of the Independent Information Chain TVN24, funded by the American Discovery.
Le Monde with AFP
The text would bring a new blow to freedom of the press in Poland. Monday, December 27, President Andrzej Duda opposed his veto to a law prohibiting control by extra-European companies of Polish media. It was a way for the right populist government to target the Independent Information Chain TVN24, controlled by the American Discovery, even though he had stated that this law should protect the Polish media landscape against potentially hostile actors such as the Russia.
The TVN network immediately welcomed the announcement, welcoming that President Polish made the choice of “good relations with the United States”.
This veto should lead to a reference to Parliament for a new exam, said Duda during his television speech.
Prepare the elections of 2023
The text, adopted by the Polish Parliament on 17 December and wanted by the Populist Party right and justice (PIS) in power, should more precisely prevent companies that do not belong to the European Economic Area (EEA, which includes The 27 States of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) to hold a majority stake in Polish media companies. This had to force the American Discovery group to sell its participation in TVN, one of the largest private television networks in Poland, and in particular in TVN24, its continuous information chain considered critical towards the Conservatives in power.
Marked by the wear of power, reigning on a criminalized coalition, the PIS fears that the too critical tone of the independent media prevents it from winning the legislative elections announced for 2023. It also already controls public television TVP. , become a major asset of the populist government, and most of the regional press.
The Poles were not mistaken. On December 19, thousands of people had shown before the Presidency in Warsaw and elsewhere in the country, brandishing EU flags and scandaning “free media!” And “we want a veto!”. Since the PIS has come to power in 2015, Poland fell by 46 places in the ranking of Reporters Without Borders on the freedom of the press, at 64 e position.
“Serious risks for freedom”
Andrzej Duda has the support of the party to power, but had divergences on certain points with his leaders in the past. In 2017, he had raised a storm by opposing his veto to two judicial reforms who accordingly gave too much power to the Attorney General, who is also the Minister of Justice.
His veto has therefore been announced without calling into question the intentions of the Worse. Mr. Duda stated that he remained faithful to the principle of funding before the European Polish media, but that the law should not call into question existing investments or run counter to international agreements. “The people I spoke about are concerned about this situation (…). We do not need a new conflict, a new problem. We already have a lot of problems,” said the president.
The American Chargus in Warsaw, Bix Aliu, thanked Mr. Duda “for his commitment to democratic values and for the defense of the investment climate in Poland”. He had previously asked the Polish President to block the Media Act, stressing that Washington was “extremely disappointed”. A spokesman for the European Commission stressed that this law presented “serious risks for the freedom and pluralism of the media in Poland”.
Former Polish Prime Minister and former President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who is at the head of the opposition party civic platform, said that President Duda’s decision showed that “put pressure on the way” .
Poland and the EU have been engaged in an arm of iron for several years, and Brussels launched last week an infringement procedure as a result of judgments challenging the primacy of European law in Poland.