Polish President vetoes controversial media law
The discussions about the controversial new Polish media law developed further when Polish President Andrzej Duda used his power to veto the new law. The law was approved by the Polish Parliament a couple of days before Christmas in an unexpected sudden move. It will now once again be returned to the Parliament, Polish TV channel TVN24 report.
The government has said the law will stop foreign powers from taking control over the country’s broadcasters while critics say the idea is to block the country’s biggest independent TV channel – TVN24 – that is owned by US company Discovery’s European operations and now reports the President has vetoed the new law.
The President had earlier indicated that one option for him was to veto the controversial law that both the European Commission and US government have criticized.
The law was originally passed by the parliament’s lower house but the Senate, where the opposition has the majority, blocked it. Following the rules, the media legislation was after the Senate’s rejection returned to the lower house that passed it shortly before Christmas. After the President´s veto, the proposed law is now again returned to the parliament´s lower house, TVN24 reports.
Discovery, owner of TV24, had together with others urged the President to veto the law.
After the surprise approval by the parliament´s lower house shortly before Christmas, US State Department spokesman Ned Price in a statement said:
“The United States is deeply troubled by the passage in Poland today of a law that would undermine freedom of expression, weaken media freedom, and erode foreign investors’ confidence in their property rights and the sanctity of contracts in Poland.”
EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, in a statement said:
“Once this bill becomes a law, the Commission will not hesitate to take action in case of non-compliance with EU law”.
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