CPA Urgent Letter to Department of State and National Security Council

December 21, 2023

Credible reports of actions taken against public media in Poland are cause for great concern amongst Polish Americans. While the government in Poland has the legal right to reform public television according to its political ideology, all changes made during the ongoing government transition should be in accordance with the law. The illegal and complete shutdown of a public television channel is not a legitimate form of public media reform.

The parties that make up the newly formed coalition government used to pride themselves on being defenders of the rule of law prior to the recent elections. They should adhere to these principles even more so now that they are governing the country. We urge Prime Minister Tusk to ensure that his government respects the rule of law.

In recent years the U.S. Administration expressed its desire that the previous Polish government obeyed the rule of law. We hope that this stance to ensure proper democratic standards are followed is applied also to the Tusk government. Cutting off the signal of a news channel seems more in line with a totalitarian state than democratic governance. Polish Americans devoted themselves selflessly to the liberation of Poland from both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, and we cannot stand by while Poland’s freedom and good name are threatened by irresponsible actions of questionable legality.

We urge the U.S. Administration to release a robust statement condemning the Tusk government’s blatant disregard for constitutional and statutory regulations and the rule of law. Their attempt to silence public television, the sole alternative to the uniform perspective of commercial media, effectively eliminates media plurality in Poland.

We ask the U.S. Administration to maintain its stance that the rule of law is essential and convey to the Tusk government to operate within law and democratic standards.

Leszek Pawlik
President