Poland's State TV and Radio Stations to be Liquidated

Poland's new pro-EU coalition government has announced plans to liquidate the country's public television, radio, and news agency, as part of its promise to restore impartiality to state media. Last week, Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz took the state 24-hour news channel, TVP Info, off the air and dismissed the boards of the public media. Opposition MPs from the Law and Justice (PiS) party criticized the move, calling it illegal and responded with sit-in protests. President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, also expressed concern, stating that the sackings had caused "anarchy" and called on the new government to follow legal procedures. Mr. Sienkiewicz explained that liquidating the companies would allow them to continue operating while undergoing restructuring, and would prevent employee layoffs. The companies could be taken out of liquidation at any time by their owner, the culture ministry, he added. The decision to liquidate the companies came after President Duda vetoed a government bill that would have provided 3 billion zloty in funding for public media. The President argued that the new government's installation of new management had violated the country's constitution. Prime Minister Donald Tusk later announced plans to allocate the money to cancer treatment and psychiatric help for children. The liquidation announcement was seen by some as an "admission of defeat" by the government, as other methods to change the public media management boards were deemed legally challenging. Rights groups raised concerns about the dismissals, stating that while public media reforms were necessary, the way they were carried out raised doubts about the government's intentions.