Poland passed a media bill that detractors say aimed at silence of a news channel critical of the government, in an unexpected move that will stoke concerns over media freedom and reopen a diplomatic dispute with the US.
Critics say the legislation will affect the ability of news channel TVN 24, owned by US media company Discovery Inc., to operate because it tightens the rules around foreign ownership of media in Poland.
The vote has hurt relations with the US, Poland's most powerful ally, at a time of heightened tension in eastern Europe over an increasingly assertive Russia.
After a committee convened at short notice to discuss the issue, the bill was voted through in a matter of minutes and ended up on the agenda.
The bill passed just before the Christmas break is a success for the ruling nationalist Law and Justice Party PiS, as there had been a question mark on whether it could pass the legislation.
The bill needs to be signed by President Andrzej Duda to become law. Duda, an ally of the government, previously said that takeovers of foreign-owned media groups should take place on market terms and not with forced solutions, in a sign that he could use his power to veto the bill.
The bill will be analysed by us and the appropriate decision will be made. Duda told reporters on Friday that they had already talked about the point of view from which I will assess the bill.
The US state department called for Duda to protect free speech, freedom to engage in economic activity, property rights and equal treatment.
The US is deeply disturbed by the passage in Poland of a law that would undermine freedom of expression, weaken media freedom and erode foreign investors confidence in their property rights and sanctity of contracts in Poland, state department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
The European Commission said that the new law sends a negative signal about the respect of the rule of law and democratic values in Poland.
When this bill becomes a law, the Commission will not hesitate to take action in case of non-compliance with EU law, according to the commission vice-president Vera Jourova.
The manner in which the committee was convened was illegal and breached democratic standards, according to the opposition.
Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, the deputy head of the committee and a member of the opposition left grouping, said members had been told to attend by text message 24 minutes beforehand, when rules state they should be informed three days in advance.
TVN 24 parent, TVN is owned by Discovery via a firm registered in the Netherlands in order to get around a ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media companies. The bill passed by the Parliament on Friday would prevent this workaround.
The TVN Grupa Discovery management board said the vote was an unprecedented attack against the free media and said that the company was determined to defend their investments in Poland. Discovery's parent company issued a separate statement saying that the parliamentary vote should alarm any enterprise investing in Poland and called for Duda to veto the legislation.
The Law and Justice party has always argued that foreign media groups have too much influence in Poland, causing public debate to be distorted. PiS believes that the bill will stop countries like China or Russia from gaining influence over Polish media.
Critics say that moves against foreign media groups seek to limit media freedom but are part of an increasingly authoritarian agenda that has already put Warsaw at loggerheads with Brussels over LGBT rights and changes to the judiciary that the EU says undermines the independence of courts.