D.He said the Polish capital was not bad at power games by any means. Political Warsaw has not heard such noise for a long time. Jaroslav Kovin, until then, was fired as deputy prime minister in the government of Mattus Moraviki. Government spokeswoman Pyotr Mல்லller made the announcement at a news conference. Covine said he heard it from the media. “It says a lot about a particular political culture,” he said after a while.
Since the incident on Tuesday evening, the people of Poland have seen a solid state crisis unfold before them. Because Govin is not just a place. He is not a member of the National Conservative Ruling Party Law and Justice (PiS), but the leader of the Small Party Understanding (Porozumienie). So far, a large parliamentary group in Govin’s Polish parliament has been called the United Right, also known as the PiS and Solidarisches Poland (SP). Now it’s over.
Govin and his MP. Only a small group of thirteen MPs remain loyal to their boss, Govin. But the powerful PiS, which has been restructuring the state for six consecutive years, has lost its absolute majority as a result.
Revenge of the fired Deputy Prime Minister
This is Govin’s revenge on PiS leader Jaroslav Kaczynski and the escalating months of conflict within the government. New elections are likely this year if the PIS fails to win the votes of other parliamentary committees in the minority government. Politicians in Warsaw are now making this clear. Parliamentary elections in Poland will not actually take place again until 2023.
However, there is still a lot to be done to get rid of Govt. About the ability of a government to lose a majority, about press freedom in the country, about Poland-US relations, and about Poland’s anchor in Western alliances. The removal of the deputy chief minister coincides with a vote in parliament, which is likely to further restrict press freedom.
This is the first acid test for the minority section of PiS. On Wednesday the parliament wants to vote on a bill called the “Lex TVN”, a law that would limit the share of foreign companies in the Polish media. It is questionable how many Gov. party friends will vote in favor. The referendum was initially postponed to Wednesday evening. But parliamentary speaker Elspeda Videk (PiS) voted again. 229 MPs voted against postponing the closing session. It is expected that Parliament will handle the amendment of the Broadcasting Act late on Wednesday evening.
Externally, PiS politicians pretend to defend Poland against the influence of Russia or China. In fact, only the TVN broadcasting team will be affected, which will be owned by an American group called Discovery through a holding company in the Netherlands. Most notable is Marez Suzuki’s commitment to Kaczynski’s confidence in justifying the initiative in parliament.
“You are protecting an investor in Poland and someone who violates Polish law,” Suzuki told the opposition, referring to US investor Discovery. “You are always on the side of Poland’s enemies,” he called on MPs. Before his speech, they chanted the word “shame” over and over again in the hall.
Should Washington be Poland’s “enemy”? Poland and the United States are truly strategic partners, especially in security policy. Poland is one of NATO’s key countries, which protects what is called the eastern side of the alliance. However, relations between the two countries quickly cooled as the National Conservatives in Warsaw removed the choice of Donald Trump, who had previously positioned himself better.
Washington doubts Warsaw’s allegiance
The TVN case is an additional burden on the Polish-US relationship. There is a growing perception in Washington that Poland, like Hungary or Turkey, is no longer a reliable partner for the West. Ahead of the vote, U.S. Republican and Democratic senators said in a joint statement: “Any decision to implement these laws will have a negative impact on security, trade and commerce.”
In July, Derek Solet moved to Warsaw. Foreign Minister Anthony Blingen’s confidante on the Polish side announced that the United States would not accept if Poland shut down TVN, one of Poland’s largest U.S. investments. President Joe Biden is personally following suit. As the “Virtual Polska” portal announced on Tuesday, Washington may consider withdrawing US troops from Poland and relocating them to Romania in response to repression of the DNN. There are currently about 4,500 American soldiers in Poland.
Former Gov. Gov. Gov. was one of the last leaders to try to reconcile with the United States. This is a signal to Washington that extremists will dominate Warsaw. Within United Rights, Cochin disagreed with Kachinsky on PiS’s new investment and reform plan. He publicly criticized it as a “radical socialist program.” Gov also spoke out against media reform, which went too far for him.
News channel TVN24 is now one of the independent, important mass media. Its report, including the investigation report, reaches millions of viewers every day. It has long been a thorn in the side of PIS. “Lex TVN” may now be a reason for the state board for radio and television not renewing its TVN broadcasting license. It expires on September 26th. TVN applied for the update 17 months ago – so far waiting in vain for a positive response.
Poland has been restructuring its media landscape for many years. After several layoffs and new hires, state television TVP is the government’s propaganda tool. At the same time, the party encourages its submissive publishers, and the independent media is shut down by complaints.
“Bolska Press”, a consortium of local media and online appearances, merged with state-owned mineral oil company Arlene. Since then, the editors-in-chief have changed and the pages have been brought in order. Poland was ranked 64th this year in the Press Freedom Index of Journalists Without Borders. This is the worst fall in any European country. In 2015, before the PiS won the parliamentary election, the country was ranked 18th.
Whether “Lex TVN” will be decided is still open. Once passed, the law must be signed by the upper house, the Senate, and the president. This may take several weeks. One thing is clear, however: Polish leadership restricts media freedom, showing that stability and good relations with their allies are more important.
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