Poland defends its new media law as fair amid EU concerns

The move follows the introduction of a media law by Poland’s new Law and Justice party government that would allow it to replace the management of public radio and TV stations without notice or consultation.

The media law, which was rushed through Poland’s parliament and came into effect on Wednesday, gives Poland’s conservative government the power to directly appoint the heads of public broadcasters.

The launch of an infringement procedure against Poland over the “violation of common European values” by the Commission could eventually see the country lose its voting rights at the European Council, according to FAZ.

In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, EU digital economy commissioner Gunther Oettinger said that there was a case to place Warsaw under EU supervision and that he would raise the matter at the next EC meeting on January 13. That means a member can be stripped of its voting rights in European Union institutions if it is deemed guilty of serious and persistent breaches of the rule of law.

Several key figures in the Polish media resigned in a gesture of protest, saying they would be laid off if the new law is passed.

In December, Lt Gen Ben Hodges, commander of US Army Europe, said Washington planned to set up maintenance sites for equipment caches in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Estonia by late 2016, and in Hungary in 2017.

PiS party chief Jaroslaw Kaczynski defended the media reforms, the EU Observer reported.

The Association of European Journalists says the law will “effectively bring public service television and radio under the direct control of the government, involve the dismissal of respected journalists for political reasons, and lead to a systematic editorial bias in the content of… broadcasts in favour of the present government”.

Tomazs Lis, one of Poland’s most recognized journalists, announced his resignation on Facebook with the caption “Fear not”.

In 1997, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Russian Federation agreed that the alliance would only send a limited number of troops to former Warsaw Pact countries such as Poland and some North Atlantic Treaty Organisation states are reluctant to break the terms of the deal.

Poland’s leaders say the July 8-9 summit will concentrate on security issues on NATO’s eastern flank, which has no permanent or significant presence of allied troops.

The Council of Europe, a 47-nation human rights body that is separate from the European Union but works closely with it, said on Monday it had received a complaint from four media freedom organisations over Poland’s new media law, which must still be signed by the country’s president to enter into force.