The United States expresses to the Polish President its rejection of the reform of the media law

Krakow (Poland), Dec. 21 (EFE). The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland sent a letter to President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday expressing his opposition to media law reform.

“The enactment of this law raises questions about the security of foreign investments in Poland, property rights and freedom of expression in the media,” said the letter sent by the American Office of Commerce in Poland (AMCham).

The reform of the media law proposed by the Polish government will prevent any media that does not belong to a country in the European Economic Area from operating in Poland, but in practice, it will affect only the TVN series, which is owned by the American Discovery Group.

In its letter, the US Chamber of Commerce states that this country has “invested (in Poland) more than 23,000 million euros, has assets worth more than 61,000 million euros and provides direct employment to more than 290,000 people, as well as creating hundreds of thousands of additional jobs.”

The letter stated that “American companies have played a very important role in the development of the Polish economy over the past 30 years”, but that “the media law will have a negative impact on bilateral relations and the climate. Foreign investment” in Poland.

Currently, the law only requires a presidential signature to go into effect, though Duda can send the text to the Constitutional Court for consideration and even veto the reform.

The acting US ambassador to Poland, Bex Aliu, posted a message on his social networks a few days ago in which he stated that his government was “extremely disappointed” by the so-called “anti-TVN law” and claimed that Duda was “using the leadership to protect the freedom of the expression”.

The text, which has been promoted by the Polish executive since September, has been heavily criticized by the opposition and even by partners of the Polish government, such as the Kukiz’15 group, whose leader, Paul Kokes, stressed on Tuesday that “the president must take into account the implications on this law in a fairly broad context, including the international one,” he said, referring to the concern expressed by Washington.

An online petition launched by TVN collected nearly 2.5 million signatures against the law, and organized several demonstrations over the weekend in major Polish cities to demand a presidential veto on the reform. EFE

MAG / JAM / JGB

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