Wall Street Journal on Poland's media law: targeting an American investment is doubly insulting

In an article titled "Poland Gives Itself a Bad Press", the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board commented on Poland's media reform bill recently passed by the parliament, which is now waiting to be signed into law by President Andrzej Duda.

"Protests erupted around Poland this weekend over a new law tightening restrictions on foreign ownership of media. The Polish government thinks it is treated unfairly by foreign critics, but then it hurts itself with this media law," we read in the article.

"The bill passed Friday would prevent firms with majority ownership outside the European Economic Area from obtaining Polish broadcast licenses. The obvious target is TVN, an independent broadcaster owned by the U.S. conglomerate Discovery through a Dutch-registered company. TVN24, the news arm of TVN, often reports critically on the ruling Law and Justice Party," the WSJ wrote.

"Warsaw’s criticism of TVN has been a bipartisan sore spot in Polish-American relations for years. Although ties between the two countries generally warmed under Donald Trump, his ambassador clashed with the government over the media issue. President Biden has been a clumsier manager of the relationship. Last year he referred to Poland alongside Belarus as 'totalitarian' - a damaging and ignorant comment. Poles also worry about a lack of consultation over White House outreach to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. But the U.S. State Department was right to knock the bill after its passage," the paper argued.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "the American left’s criticism of Poland is often overwrought". "The country still has a free press, and it’s not one dumb law away from becoming Belarus. Sovereign nations also have a right to decide who invests in their countries, and Law and Justice says comparable laws exist elsewhere in the European Union. But the argument that the bill is meant to limit the influence of hostile nations like Russia and China doesn’t hold up," we read further.

The WSJ Editorial Board also stressed that "targeting an American investment is doubly insulting". "The U.S., through NATO, is treaty bound to send Americans to fight and die for Polish security. Washington will have to be stern in its condemnation without blowing up the relationship with its most important ally on NATO’s eastern flank," the editors warn.

"The bill can’t become law without Polish President Andrzej Duda’s signature. He previously has said media reform is best “carried out on a market basis.” His veto would send an important message amid Mr. Putin’s recent threats against Central and Eastern Europe. Poland’s rise has been one of the great economic and political success stories since the end of the Cold War. Now more than ever, Warsaw should want to underscore its differences with nearby authoritarians," the WSj urges.