© Reuters
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The United States has expressed deep concern over two laws passed last night in the Polish parliament that have been exacerbating tensions between Warsaw and its strategic ally Washington for months.
Last night, the Sejm – the lower house of the Polish parliament – voted to amend the Radio and Television Act, which tightens the rules on foreign ownership of the media. Critics of the text – which includes both the opposition and Washington – say the legislation aims to silence TVN24, which is critical of the US-owned Discovery.
According to the amendment, owners from outside the EU are not allowed to own controlling stakes in Polish media. This could force Discovery to sell most of its shares in Polish television.
The majority with which he was passed was only 12 votes, with 228 “for”, 216 “against” and 10 abstentions. Voting was once postponed yesterday afternoon and was due to resume in September following a parliamentary holiday (according to a backed opposition proposal), but the president of the institution managed to force a renewal. Meanwhile, the US State Department announced that the topic had been discussed by representatives of the institution with the Polish authorities “in the last hours”, and this corresponds to the time around the break in the initial postponement of the meeting.
A vote is also pending in the Senate, where the opposition has a majority but less power.
Risk of withdrawal of investments
The United States noted that the text was directed against an independent media owned by an American company. Two weeks ago they threatened to withdraw investment.
At the same time, the bill created political tension in the ruling coalition – Deputy Prime Minister Yaroslav Govin was fired on Tuesday after opposing the bill. As a result, Govin’s “Agreement” party left the ruling party. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki insisted today that the law is not aimed at a specific media outlet. However, Law and Justice, the main party in the coalition, lost 13 deputies in the face of the Agreement and remained virtually without a stable majority.
This is another front for Warsaw, which is already in conflict with the EU over controversial judicial reform. The cabinet took a step back, like close a disciplinary chamber for judges In the beggining of the week.
The properties of Holocaust survivors
The law, the debate over which again has flared up in recent months, will hinder owners of property seized by the communist regime in Poland. This includes Holocaust survivors and their heirs and deprives them of the right to compensation. There are several hundred thousand Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust. Some of them or their descendants tried to get their property back before the end of communism, but the topic is controversial in the Eastern European country.
As a result of the change introduced in the Administrative Procedure Code, administrative decisions will not be able to be challenged after the expiration of 30 years from their adoption. The legislation was also sharply criticized by Israel, whose foreign minister, Jair Lapid, called on Poland to repeal it. The state of Israel will not compromise on the memory of Holocaust victims, Lapid said.
Warsaw defends its decision, arguing that the goal is for citizens to have confidence in the state, to guarantee the principle of legal certainty, and says that the possibility of challenging decisions taken by the authorities cannot be unlimited in time, DPA reported.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says Poland needs a comprehensive law to address the property issues of Holocaust survivors. He called on Polish President Andrzej Duda not to sign the text.
“We are deeply concerned that the Polish parliament today passed legislation that severely restricts the process by which Holocaust survivors and their families, as well as other Jewish or non-Jewish owners, can seek restitution of property unjustly confiscated during communism. in Poland, “said a statement from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
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