As often as Poland’s national populist government messed with other countries in recent years, Poland has so far avoided a conflict with the USA. One of the largest US investments in Poland is TVN24, part of the Discovery group, Poland’s leading independent television broadcaster. This station has been a thorn in the side of Poland’s de facto Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński for years. That is why Poland’s parliament decided on Wednesday evening, despite several warnings from Washington, a massive change to the media law: The change is intended to restrict the foreign ownership of Polish television stations, force US owners to sell, and thus enable the government to take control of TVN24.
According to the law, Poland’s TV and Broadcasting Council should only be allowed to grant broadcasting licenses to broadcasters whose owners are predominantly from Poland or from the European economic area (EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). Actually, TVN24, which belongs to the US, also falls under this protection: TVN24 is formally owned by Polish Television Holding, registered in Holland, a subsidiary of the US parent company Discovery. However, the government added a point to the draft law according to which owners who are located in the European Economic Area, but who belong to another owner outside of it, do not come under the protection.
The law was passed on Wednesday evening at a special session convened during the summer recess with 288 for and 216 against with ten abstentions in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament controlled by the PiS and its allies. In fact, after a surprisingly successful proposal by the opposition early on Wednesday evening, the meeting had already been postponed to September. But the parliamentary president appointed by the PiS had the session resumed because of an alleged formal error – and then voted on the controversial media law.
The Senate, the upper house of parliament, is controlled by the opposition. The Senate has 30 days to vote on the law – a no could be overruled by the PiS and its allies in the Sejm with a simple majority. After the adoption, the new regulations, which are intended to force the previous owners of TVN to sell to allegedly pro-government Polish owners, will come into force six months later.
Some speak of “repolonization”, others of a “kleptocratic autocracy”
Unlike Poland’s state television broadcaster TVP, which has already been converted by the government into a propaganda broadcaster, TVN, which can be received via satellite or cable television, only reaches around 60 percent of Poles. But TVN is a leader in journalism. PiS party leader Kaczyński justified the change in the law by arguing that this should prevent drug lords, Russia or China from taking over the Polish media. In fact, the party leader is more likely to be annoyed that TVN – unlike TVP – also gives opposition politicians space and has uncovered or reported on a number of scandals in the government camp in recent years. As early as 2007, Kaczyński blamed TVN for the election of his then scandal-ridden government.
“It’s a bit like the Mafia,” said opposition MP Cezary Tomczyk, addressing the PiS when discussing the TVN law in parliament. “It’s about eliminating the key witness. You want to eliminate the freedom of the press in Poland because it is the key witness of what you are doing.” The Polish MEP and ex-Foreign Minister Radek Sikowski commented that if the law were finally adopted, Poland would become “a kleptocratic autocracy”.
Shortly after he took over government again at the end of 2015, Kaczyński declared the “repolonization” of all media in Poland to be a top priority. The takeover of TVN initially failed after warnings from Washington. In autumn 2020, however, Kaczyński reiterated that it was time to ensure that media in Poland generally also belong to Poland. The state oil company Orlen, led by his trusted friend Daniel Obajtek, took over Poland’s largest regional newspaper group, Polska Press, from the Passau publishing group, where leading journalists have already been fired.
With the return of Donald Tusk, the opposition has again a charismatic leader – who finds a platform at TVN
TVN24’s broadcast license will expire on September 26th. Although the broadcaster was already broadcasting the Extension requested, the PiS-controlled television and radio council has not granted this to this day. According to experts who appeared at a hearing in the opposition-controlled Senate on Tuesday, refusing to renew a license if all requirements are met is illegal.
Shortly before midnight on July 7th, PiS MPs tabled Bill 1389, which aims to amend Article 35 of the Media Act and make the extension of TVN’s license illegal. The draft was nominally prepared by Kaczyński’s longtime confidante Marek Suski, who openly spoke several times that the law should allow control over TVN.
TVN is becoming all the more important as the government camp’s popularity has plummeted in recent months and the opposition has grown stronger. In addition to Warsaw’s mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, Donald Tusk, who returned to politics on July 3, has two charismatic, media-savvy leaders who are attacked on TVP but found a platform on TVN.
If the law is finally adopted, Poland will confront the USA. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo warned Polish Vice Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin – who has since left the government because of the TVN law – of the consequences as early as July, as did five US Senators on August 4, under the leadership of Democrat Jeanne Shaheen: “The next step The Polish government’s democratic slide – most recently through attempts to undermine independent media and one of the largest US investments in their country – is deeply troubling … Any decision to implement these laws could have negative repercussions on defense, economic and trade relations ” .
Still, Kaczynski enforced the law. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US was “deeply concerned” about the bill against “the most watched independent news broadcaster” that threatens freedom of the press and “could undermine Poland’s strong investment climate.” The Polish NewsweekAccording to the edition, Washington is said to have threatened to withdraw US soldiers from Poland in a previous attempt to put TVN under pressure in 2018. Polish media speculate that Washington could also refuse to sell Warsaw military technology – or even impose sanctions on Polish officials. The US diplomat Derek Chollet said that Rzeczpospolita, US President Joe Biden is following the TVN cause personally.