Senior figures in public radio and TV will be appointed and sacked by treasury minister under new law, which has been condemned by rights groups

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Poland’s president has signed into law a bill handing the conservative government control of state media, despite concern elsewhere in the EU and condemnation from rights watchdogs.

Andrzej Duda signed the legislation because he wants state media to be “impartial, objective and credible”, his aide Małgorzata Sadurska said. She added that the president did not believe broadcasters guaranteed objective information in their current form.

Under the new law, senior figures in public radio and television will be appointed – and sacked – by the treasury minister, and will no longer be hired by the National Broadcasting Council.

Under the legislation current managers and supervisory board members of Poland’s public broadcasters will be fired with immediate effect.

The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party had earlier said it planned to turn the PAP news agency and public television and radio – all currently state-owned businesses – into national cultural institutions like the opera or the national museum.



The media measure is the latest controversial legislation introduced by the PiS, led by the former premier Jarosław Kaczyński, since it won a general election in October after eight years in opposition.

Late last year Duda passed into law a reform of the constitutional court despite mass protests and claims by the opposition that the changes threatened judicial independence.

The Council of Europe, the continent’s top human rights watchdog, had urged Duda against signing the media law. On Tuesday the body’s human rights commissioner, Nils Muižnieks, appealed to Duda not to sign it.

The Polish government’s moves have prompted escalating warnings from the European commission that it could intervene, including two letters from its vice-president, Frans Timmermans, asking Warsaw for information.

In an unprecedented move, on 13 January the commission will debate the state of the rule of law in Poland, which could theoretically result in Poland losing its EU voting rights on matters that concern the entire 28-nation bloc.

However, Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the commission, said on Thursday that that option, contained in article 7 of the treaty of the European Union, was unlikely.

“Now we are in discussions with Poland and I don’t want to speculate about further consequences, which could be entailed by the application of article 7. We are not there, I don’t think we will get to that point,” he said.

“Let’s not overdramatise … We have to have friendly and good relations with Poland so our approach is very constructive. We are not bashing Poland.”