Polish Government Dissolves Public Broadcasters in Media Row
- President vetoed cabinet’s spending plan over media subsidies
- Deadlock highlights rocky relations between premier, president
Andrzej Duda
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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s cabinet placed public television and radio under liquidation after the president vetoed legislation providing subsidies to the state-run media amid a political standoff over the broadcasters.
Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz said on Wednesday that Telewizja Polska SA, Polskie Radio SA and news agency Polska Agencja Prasowa SA have been disbanded after a “suspension in financing” due to President Andrzej Duda’s veto. The liquidation status will help to efficiently restructure public media and avoid layoffs amid a lack of public funding, the ministry said.