Controversial media reform: The air is getting thin for Poland’s government

First the judges, then the media: With Poland’s broadcasting reform, PiS boss Kaczynski has taken a step towards authoritarian rule. Brussels can and must intervene now.

This time the powerful man of Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has clearly overdone. So much so that the American embassy in Warsaw found it necessary to point out a matter of course: that media freedom must also apply to the work of those journalists who do not report in the interests of the Polish government. So that are already critical.

Like the opposition television station TVN, against which the media law is directed and which is majority owned by a subsidiary of the American Discovery group.

America’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken has even tightened the tone. Poland’s government, he demands without a diplomatic soft focus, must now demonstrate its commitment to democratic values ​​and freedom of the press.

The air is getting thinner

Kaczynski is used to such information from Brussels. But the fact that they are now also coming from America’s closest ally shows how thin the air is becoming for the national-conservative government.

Because the conflict with the partners in the European Union continues to escalate at the same time. In many infringement proceedings, all of which – critics rightly object – are lengthy, complicated and bureaucratic. But they all come up to one crucial question: the question of whether Poland is still on the basis of European law.

And now it’s time to get down to business. It’s about the showdown between diversity of opinions on the one hand and authoritarian rule on the other.

Like in the textbook of dying democracies

With the media law, Kaczynski has taken a step further in the direction of authoritarian rule, and in doing so he is following a plan that could be found in the textbooks of dying democracies. First, the judiciary was brought under control and judges and prosecutors were put under pressure. Then it came to the public service media – they are now mostly reliably on the government line. And now the private media.

Under the pretext of deterring investors from China and Russia, it is about something completely different. New owners should come into play, preferably friends and supporters of the PiS party.

You can then get the main opposition television station to stop criticizing government policies.

Following the example of Orbán

Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orbán has shown the way. He is Kaczynski’s role model, both men have a lot in common. They are the heads of government in the EU who have led their countries furthest away from the values ​​and norms of Europe.

And they are both at the top of the two countries, Poland and Hungary, which receive the most funding per capita from the Community budget in Brussels.

Brussels can and must intervene

This is exactly where the leverage that Brussels can and must now apply. It is the only lever that works – both gentlemen are sensitive to money, they value the EU as a kind of ATM that delivers reliably.

Painful cuts are now possible, for example when it comes to paying out the Corona aid money. The EU Commission is examining this at the moment and the voices of those warning against the transfer of further billions to Poland and Hungary are increasing.

Europe’s taxpayers’ money

Hopefully they will prevail. Because the billions are about the money from Europe’s taxpayers. And they have the right to have their money not passed on to governments that silence journalists, pressure independent courts and harass minorities.