Polish culture minister says he will put state media into liquidation

Reuters
Wed, December 27, 2023 

WARSAW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Poland's culture minister has decided to put its state television, radio and news agency into liquidation, he said on Wednesday, deepening a dispute over the future of publicly owned media after a momentous change in government.

A pro-E.U. coalition headed by Donald Tusk took power in Poland this month and started an overhaul of state media institutions which critics say had become propaganda outlets during the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party's eight years in power.

The changes have met with strong opposition from PiS, which says the new government has circumvented normal parliamentary procedure in implementing them.

The move follows a decision by President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, to veto the new government's spending proposals for public media financing.

"Due to the decision of the President of the Republic of Poland to suspend financing of public media, I decided to put into liquidation the companies Telewizja Polska SA, Polskie Radio SA and Polska Agencja Prasowa SA," Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

"In the current situation, such action will ensure the continued operation of these companies, carry out the necessary restructuring and prevent layoffs of employees in the above-mentioned companies."

He said that the state of liquidation could be withdrawn at any time by the companies' owner, which is the state.

PiS lawmaker Joanna Lichocka said in a post on X that "Tusk's government is destroying the Polish media".

"This is an act which damages the state," she added. (Reporting by Alan Charlish Editing by Tomasz Janowski)