Poland demands explanation over EU politicians' comments

“We will invite [the ambassador] for a friendly talk so he can explain the nature of recent pronouncements by some politicians,” Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told Polish Radio on Tuesday.

“Maybe the EU’s representative in Poland will know what kind of new procedures these are by which 'megaphone diplomacy' is being carried out towards Poland in the media,” Waszczykowski added.

Waszczykowski was speaking after the European Commission announced that it will hold a debate on “the rule of law in Poland” on 13 January.

The announcement came after a new bill on public media was passed by the Polish senate on 31 December. The bill enables the government to dismiss the supervisory and management bodies of public broadcaster TVP and Polish Radio.

EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans has sent two letters to the Polish government asking for clarification on the bill, which critics say threatens the independence of Poland’s public media.

That charge is denied by the conservative Law and Justice party which swept to power in Poland’s 25 October general election and which created the new public media legislation.

Meanwhile, Gunther Oettinger, the EU Commissioner for the digital economy, told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper that “many reasons exist for us to activate the 'Rule of Law mechanism' and for us to place Warsaw under monitoring.”

The Commission's so-called rule of law mechanism is designed to address threats to the EU's core values.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński accused Oettinger of arrogance.

“I would prefer Commissioner Oettinger to express himself more professionally. It’s very arrogant to talk about wanting to place Poland under monitoring,” Gliński told radio station RMF FM. (pk/rg)