Press statements of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

VIENNA, 20 December 2021 – In response to the recent parliamentary approval of a draft bill that excludes companies from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) to hold broadcasting licenses in Poland, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro today reiterated her concern for its wider implications for media freedom and called on President Andrzej Duda to veto it.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Teresa Ribeiro, met today, on 2 February 2021, with Ambassador Adam Hałaciński to discuss the current media freedom landscape as well as challenges in Poland and the broader OSCE region.

VIENNA, 6 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today raised serious concerns about media freedom in Poland following a verdict of the District Court in Poznań which sentenced journalist Anna Wilk on criminal defamation charges to a three-year ban on practicing journalism and a fine totalling more than 1,500 euros. Wilk works with the Tygodnik Gazeta Powiatowa, a local newspaper in the town of Wronki.

VIENNA, 28 June 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir welcomed yesterday’s initiative by the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, to amend the ‘Holocaust law’ and the swift decision by the lower house of Poland’s parliament to remove criminal penalties for ascribing any responsibility to the Polish nation for the Holocaust, including suggestions regarding its complicity...

VIENNA, 1 February 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed his concern about a law criminalizing statements on historical events, such as accusations against Poland or Polish people of complicity in crimes committed during the Holocaust or denial of crimes against the Polish population committed by Ukrainian nationalists, such as the Volyn Massacre during World War II...

VIENNA, 14 December 2017 – The decision by Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) to impose a fine of 1.48 million Polish Złotys (€352,000) on one of the country’s leading private independent broadcasters, TVN SA, for coverage by one of its channels, TVN24, of opposition demonstrations in Warsaw in December 2016 is unjustified and disproportionate, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today...

VIENNA, 3 August 2017 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed his concern in a letter to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding the decision by the Ministry of Defence to file a complaint against journalist Tomasz Piątek. The Defence Ministry claims that Piątek may have committed a criminal offence in publishing his new book, Macierewicz and His Secrets...

VIENNA, 30 December 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed deep concern about a proposed law in Poland that gives the government direct control over management positions in the public service broadcasters, Polskie Radio and Telewizja Polska (TVP)...

BONN, Germany, 23 June 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today strongly condemned the recent killing of the Polish journalist Łukasz Masiak. Mijatović also expressed her sincere condolences to Masiak’s family and colleagues...

VIENNA, 19 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed her concern about attempts by law enforcement in Poland to confiscate materials and force journalists to reveal confidential sources...