Staff | Polish News

Polish MPs unexpectedly adopted the anti-American media law, writes Bloomberg. The agency notes that a few minutes before the vote, high increases in electricity and gas bills were announced. The American weekly “Variety” and the German Deutsche Welle also informed about the adoption of lex TVN. “The unexpected move will fuel concerns about media freedom and potentially reopen a diplomatic dispute with the United States,” wrote the Reuters agency.

Bloomberg indicates that the Polish parliament “unexpectedly” adopted the media law, known as lex TVN. which is aimed at forcing Discovery to sell the majority of its shares in Poland. As added, now the fate of the law is in the hands of President Andrzej Duda.

On Friday afternoon, the Sejm rejected the Senate’s resolution to reject the amendment to the Broadcasting Act and adopted the lex TVN. Earlier, the act was unexpectedly dealt with by the committee on culture and media. She recommended that the Sejm reject the Senate resolution.

The agency recalls that for many months the US administration put pressure on the Law and Justice party to force the ruling party to reject the bill that Washington believes is harmful to the business climate and restricts media freedom. “Without warning, lawmakers returned to the bill and approved it on Friday, sending the bill to Duda, who had signaled earlier that he would veto the bill,” we read.

Bloomberg points out that minutes before the vote, the Energy Regulatory Authority announced that Household electricity bills will increase by 24 percent next year, a gas bills down 54 percent. According to economists – as it added – this will lead to a further increase in inflation, which is already at a high level of 7.8 percent, the highest in two decades.

Lex TVN “is aimed primarily at Discovery”

The American weekly “Variety” writes on its website that “Discovery may be forced to sell its business in Poland through the adoption of a controversial media law by parliament.” “It is aimed primarily at Discovery, the American owner of TVN. Discovery Group, which owns the most famous news channel in Poland, TVN24. Valued at around $ 2 billion, TVN is the largest American investment in Poland,” adds Variety.

Discovery in a statement sent to Bloomberg and “Variety” said that “the result of today’s surprising vote in the Polish parliament should be deeply disturbing for any company investing in Poland and for anyone who cares about democracy and media freedom.”

“By this vote, Poland risks directly undermining the values ​​that connected Poland with Europe and destroying the foundations of Polish-American relations. We now appeal to the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, to oppose this project and prevent its implementation,” he added Discovery.

The German station Deutsche Welle writes about the unexpected adoption of the law. “On Friday, the Seym unexpectedly voted to reject the Senate’s veto on the controversial law on media reform that had previously been postponed,” we read.

The Reuters agency also writes about this case. The agency notes that “the Polish parliament adopted the media law on Friday, which, according to critics, is intended to silence the news channel critical of the government.” According to Reuters, “the unexpected move will stoke fears of media freedom and potentially reopen a diplomatic dispute with the United States.”

Aliu: The United States is extremely disappointed

Charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Poland Bix Aliu wrote on Friday on Twitterthat the United States is extremely disappointed with today’s adoption of the media law by the Polish Parliament.

He stressed that Washington expects President Andrzej Duda “to act in line with earlier declarations.”

Lex TVN

On August 11, the Sejm adopted an amendment to the Broadcasting Act, known as the anti-TVN act. It was supported by 228 MPs, with 216 votes against and 10 abstentions. The proposed regulations, the draft of which were submitted to the Sejm by PiS MPs, in the unanimous opinion of commentators, are aimed at the independence of TVN.

Many journalists, politicians and institutions protested against the changes in the media law. On September 9, the Senate rejected the amendment in its entirety.

In September, the National Broadcasting Council voted to extend the license for TVN24. An absolute majority of votes was obtained in the vote – 4 people were in favor of extending the license, 1 against.

Source: Polish News