Tens of thousands of Poles protest against new media law

They waved Polish and EU flags and chanted: "Free media, free Poland!" EU Parliament President Martin Schulz accused Warsaw of wanting to establish a "controlled democracy" based on the Russian model. The Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD) had called for the demonstrations. The demonstrators called for "democratic media" and shouted slogans against the government. "I still remember communism, propaganda and censorship - and I don't want my grandchildren to have to experience that," said 51-year-old protester Jacek Kisielewski in Warsaw. "Today they want to control the public media, tomorrow the private media and finally the entire state," criticized 45-year-old Ewa Stanislawska.

Media controlled by the state

The new media law places Poland's public broadcasters under de facto government control. The Polish parliament passed the law in a fast-track procedure at the turn of the year and it was signed by President Andrzej Duda on Thursday. The national-conservative majority had previously pushed through a law to indirectly disempower the Constitutional Court. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo's government is currently being heavily criticized in the EU for these measures. Schulz accused the government in Warsaw of violating democratic principles. "The Polish government sees its election victory as a mandate to subordinate the welfare of the state to the will of the winning party, in terms of content and personnel," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

EU initiates review

The newspaper also reported that there is agreement within the EU Commission to initiate an in-depth investigation into the rule of law in Poland. According to the report, Vice Commission President Frans Timmermans is to lead the investigation - a preliminary step towards a procedure to ensure compliance with the rule of law in the member states. The Commission will discuss the situation of the rule of law in Poland on Wednesday. (SDA)