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Andrzej Duda has lifted a ban on non-European owners owning Polish companies.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has criticized an anti-media law that critics say was aimed at banning American radio station TVN24.
Announcing his decision on Monday, Mr. Duda felt that the law was unpopular with many Polish people and would tarnish Poland’s reputation as a place of business.
“I protest,” Duda said in a televised address, following strong legal protests from the European Union and the United States.
Bill, soon has passed and the Polish parliament, would bar any non-European organization from having a share of more than 49 percent of Poland’s television or radio broadcasters.
The result would be to look at only one existing company, Discovery Inc, to force the owner of Poland’s largest radio station Poland, TVN, to sell most or all of its assets in Poland. TVN24 is a way to broadcast news on the network.
Many Poles have seen the bill, pushed by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) with which Duda joins, in an attempt to ban the self-proclaimed broadcaster and often criticize government officials.
Major international protests recently took place in support of the station and greater freedom of expression, with Discovery threatening to sue Poland in an international court for the rules.
The government said the law would protect Poland from the threat of atrocities by enemies such as Russia.
Duda said he agreed with the idea, noting that many other democratic countries – including the US, France and Germany – have similar laws.
But he also said it should not be applied to existing businesses and financial contracts, saying it would disrupt a business already legally operating in Poland if it were to operate.
He said the signing of the bill would cost the country billions of dollars, and added that the perception of many people in his village was unnecessary at the moment.
US officials in Warsaw, Bix Aliu, have called on Duda to repeal the law, saying Washington was “deeply offended” by the law.
“We expect President Duda to act in accordance with his earlier directives to use his leadership to protect freedom of speech and business,” Aliu said.
European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand also criticized the law, saying it “could be a serious threat to media freedom and dissent in Poland”, while Discovery said the law “should threaten any business in Poland and anyone concerned with democracy and the freedom of the press.”
PiS already oversees the public television network TVP, which has become a public broadcaster, as well as many local journalists.
Since the party was elected to the presidency in 2015, Poland has dropped 46 places on the World Press Freedom Index, down from 64.
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