Poland's new culture minister announced on Wednesday the liquidation of all public media, which were considered the mouthpiece of the previous populist-nationalist government, ahead of a restructuring. Bartholomew Sienkiewicz said the move would "guarantee the operation and restructuring" of public television and radio stations, the national telegraph agency PAP, while avoiding layoffs, according to a statement posted on the X Network. "The liquidation can be withdrawn at any time time from the owner,” the state, he wrote.
The latest action is likely to exacerbate the standoff between the government and President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the previous administration who has criticized government reforms and vetoed state media subsidies. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU government took power earlier this month after eight years of rule by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party. It justified last week's dismissal of the public media's leadership as an attempt to restore "impartiality" after they were regularly accused of biased coverage, spreading government propaganda and launching verbal attacks on the opposition. The move to fire the management sparked a sit-in protest by PiS lawmakers at the state broadcaster's offices, who say the reforms are an attack on media freedoms. /BGNES
