Poland’s president accuses the Tusk government of violating the law that Belgium took over from the EU Council presidency

In his New Year’s speech, Polish President Andrzej Duda warned the new government against violating the constitution and the rule of law. In the televised speech published on Sunday evening on the homepage of the presidential office, he mainly criticized the government’s radical restructuring of the public media.

The pro-European government, in power since mid-December and led by former EU Council President and current Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, has taken over the public television station TVP, Polish Radio and the PAP news agency accused after acting under the government in recent years, the propaganda of the national conservative PiS party spread. Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz dismissed the entire management of the media companies before Christmas.

When President Duda, who originally came from the PiS, vetoed the Tusk government’s budget plans, Sienkiewicz ordered the formal liquidation of the three media companies.

In his speech, Duda reiterated his criticism: “In a democracy, the constitution, the rule of law and good political habits must be respected. Unfortunately, the coalition government has violated these principles in recent days in its attempt to take over the public media. For the first time in free Poland after 1989, an attempt was made to take over the public media by force, the signals of some television channels were switched off and news broadcasts stopped.

International organizations had also criticized the biased reporting of public media during the eight-year PiS government. (sda/dpa)