2021-12-27 13:26 update: 2021-12-28, 19:25
Fot. PAP/Andrzej Lange
Polish President Andrzej Duda has vetoed a new media law that would curb the operation of US-owned television station TVN.
The president has sent the bill back to the Sejm (lower house) in order for it to be rewritten.
Commenting on his decision, Duda said he had considered sending the act to the Constitutional Tribunal, but finally decided to return it to the Sejm.
Duda recalled that the media law had evoked hefty debates, and admitted that he himself had "serious reservations" about it. He also recalled his August comment on the law, when he admonished that Poland had to keep its agreements and remain loyal to its alliances if it wanted the same from others.
"I spoke about our alliances, our commitments, and I said then that agreements had to be kept. If we have sealed an agreement, we have to stick to it. If we fail to keep our agreements, others will fail to keep theirs," Duda said.
He added that for Poles adherence to agreements was "a matter of honour."
Duda was referring to the 1990 US-Poland treaty on business and economic relations.
Under a proposed new media law operators from outside the European Economic Area would not be allowed to hold majority ownership in media in Poland. Critics of the bill, which could force TVN's US-based owner Discovery to resign control of the station, say it is a tool specifically aimed against the strongly government-critical broadcaster.
(PAP)
