Poland Nixes U.S. Criticism Of New Broadcasting Law

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has rejected the US State Department's criticism of a change in the country’s broadcasting law, Doris Helmann reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Photo Insert: Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland

He urged experts in Washington to analyze exactly what is at stake, Morawiecki said on Thursday: "There are no intentions here regarding specific television stations."

Rather, he said, it was about making the regulations so seamless that companies from outside the EU could not arbitrarily buy media in Poland. On Wednesday, the Sejm, the first chamber of parliament, had approved the amendment to the Broadcasting Act, which stipulates that in future broadcasting licenses in Poland may only be granted to foreigners if they "have their headquarters or residence in the area of the European Economic Area."

According to critics, the law targets the private broadcaster TVN, which is part of the US group Discovery via a holding company registered in the Netherlands. The news channel TVN24 in particular takes a line critical of the government.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said his country was "deeply troubled" by the law. He called on the government in Warsaw to demonstrate its commitment to democratic values and freedom of the press.

The German Federation of Journalists (DJV) also criticized the planned new Polish broadcasting law. The amendment would be a "nail in the coffin for the remnants of press and freedom of the press and broadcasting in Poland," the DJV's national chairman Frank Ueberall said.

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