Poland refutes any violation of audiovisual freedom
(B2) The government took up its pen and decided to respond to the Commission's demands. The Polish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Aleksander Stępkowski, responsible for legal affairs and human rights, thus refutes, point by point, in a letter addressed on January 7 to the Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, accusations of violation of European rules. Poland " fully recognizes the freedom and pluralism of the media, considering them as a major element of a pluralistic society » he says in the communicated published Friday (8 January) by Foreign Affairs.
An unquestionable power of appointment
The arguments used by the Commission are not really relevant, he considers. « The amending law of 30 December 2015 deals with the exclusive powers of the State exercised in companies which are the property of the Polish State. And that has nothing to do with a measure implementing the Directive 2010/13 on audiovisual media. The « powers of the National Broadcasting Council, in particular its powers to ensure media pluralism, remain intact. There is no European law that would require a media regulator to have the power to determine the composition of the boards of public media companies ».
The Commission's point of view: biased according to Warsaw
The minister then rises against the character " distorted from the Commission's point of view. The Vice-President of the European Commission could have been misled by “ misleading information (which is) biased against the Polish government ". Poland is ready to cooperate loyally with the European Commission. Corn " exposing the Polish government to interventions inspired by such unfair, biased and politically committed utterances could have an undesirable effect, which must be carefully avoided he argues.
A point of view supported by the association of Polish journalists
The Minister accompanies this argument with a letter from the Association of Polish Journalists (1) denouncing « political partisanship and lack of pluralism in public media that reached “ a pathological condition (these) last years ». What " led to manipulation and the presentation an distorted image from Poland. Public media do not fulfill their mission or their functions — affirm-they —. What had underlined lAssociation of polish journalists, during its Assembly extraordinary, calling to a radical change in this regard ".
(NGV)
(1) These two letters were published, in their original version, by the Financial Times, to download here