Donald Tusk puts Polish state media into insolvency

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Poland’s government has put the country’s state media group into insolvency, the latest move in a drive by Prime Minister Donald Tusk to overhaul its operations in the face of opposition from the rightwing former government.

Deputy culture minister Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus told news channel Polsat on Thursday that placing the TVP state television, state radio and news agency into the insolvency process, referred to in Poland as liquidation, would enable a reorganisation and full audit.

Tusk has been seeking to bypass media laws and a regulator created by the former government to make changes he says will reduce rightwing bias in state media.

The companies, which employ about 4,000 people, will continue operating in insolvency, while culture minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz said on social media platform X on Wednesday that “the state of liquidation may be withdrawn at any time”.

The feud over the public broadcaster has become the biggest test so far for Tusk since he took office earlier this month, having led a pro-EU coalition to a parliamentary majority in a landmark election victory in October.

Ahead of the vote, Tusk had pledged to dismantle the public broadcaster, which he accused of acting as a mouthpiece for the PiS party. His media overhaul has prompted a PiS backlash, boosted by President Andrzej Duda, who is backed by the party.

Last weekend, Duda vetoed Tusk’s budget bill because it contained media funds earmarked for the prime minister’s new version of state broadcaster TVP.

The broadcaster’s news channel was pulled off air last week by the new leaders of the public media company immediately after they were appointed by Tusk’s government. PiS politicians staged a sit-in at the offices of the media company and denounced Tusk for what they called an attack on media plurality. 

Duda has accused Tusk of creating…