Polish lawmakers last Wednesday voted in favour of a contested bill that seeks to prevent non-European owners from holding controlling stakes in domestic media firms.
Blinken said last week the United States was "deeply troubled" by the Polish bill, which he said "threatens media freedom" and "targets the most watched independent news station, which is also one of the largest U.S. investments in the country."
Pacta sunt servanda
In a speech in Warsaw on Sunday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country was keeping its international obligations, including those resulting from bilateral business agreements.
"Pacta sunt servanda," Duda said, citing the Latin phrase for "agreements must be kept."
He also vowed to defend freedom of speech, a comment that some interpreted as him suggesting he might veto the disputed legislation.
"We welcome President Duda’s statement this weekend in support of freedom of expression, the sanctity of contracts, and the shared values that underpin our relationship," Blinken said in a statement on Monday.
"We strongly encourage him to act on these values in regard to pending legislation that, if passed in the current form, could severely affect media freedom and the foreign investment climate," he added.
The disputed legislation, which strengthens a ban on companies from outside the European Economic Area controlling Polish broadcasters, now goes to the upper house, the Senate, for further debate.
Opposition politicians have decried the bill as an attack on media freedoms and an attempt to gag TVN24, a US-owned news channel critical of the government.
"We look forward to working with the Government of Poland to advance our shared priorities on the basis of democratic values including respect for the fundamental freedom of expression," Blinken said in his statement.
US 'reiterates concerns' over Polish law to limit property claims
Blinken's statement also addressed a new Polish law "severely restricting" the restitution process for former owners, including Holocaust survivors.
"The United States reiterates our concerns about amendments to the Code of Administrative Procedure, which President Duda signed on August 14, severely restricting restitution and compensation for property wrongfully confiscated during Poland’s communist era," Blinken said.
"We deeply regret the adoption of these amendments," he added.
He urged the Polish government "to consult with representatives of affected parties and to develop a clear, efficient, and effective legal procedure to resolve confiscated property claims and provide some measure of justice for victims."
"In the absence of such a procedure, this legislation will harm all Polish citizens whose property was unjustly taken, including that of Polish Jews who were victims of the Holocaust, Blinken said.
Blinken said last week that Washington was "deeply concerned" after Polish lawmakers passed the legislation limiting property claims.
He at the time urged the Polish president not to sign the bill into law "or that, in line with the authority granted to him as President, he refer the bill to Poland’s constitutional tribunal."
Critics say the law, which introduces a statute of limitations on claims for the restitution of property, will make it harder for Jews to recover property seized by Poland's Nazi German occupiers during the Holocaust and kept by the country's postwar communist rulers.
The Polish foreign ministry has said the new law is not aimed at the heirs of the country's prewar Jewish citizens, and will not prevent claimants from seeking compensation for lost property through courts.
(gs)
Source: PAP, state.gov