Just a few days ago, Senator James David (JD) Vance penned a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, criticizing Washington’s position on the dismantling of public media and the erosion of the rule of law in Poland under the new government. “I urge you to encourage Poland’s new government to reconsider any actions that could undermine it or the freedoms Polish and American citizens both hold dear,” wrote the conservative Ohio politician in the missive.
“I am writing to express concern about actions recently taken by Poland’s new government against influential Polish public broadcasters. The firings of personnel at Telewizja Polska (TVP), Polskie Radio, and the Polish Press Agency, initiated promptly after Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his political allies took power, raise questions about this new government’s commitment to media freedom and the rule of law,” reads the letter shared by Breitbart.
Within the letter, Senator Vance highlighted how the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights assessed the unlawful takeover of the media.
“Biden administration officials, at least publicly, have said nothing,” noted JD Vance. He drew a parallel to Donald Trump’s dismissal of the head of the United States Agency of Global Media and “government-funded broadcasting chiefs,” which elicited a clear reaction from the Democrats at the time. Vance expressed his confusion, stating that it is not clear to him “why concerns of this nature are not reflected in the Biden administration’s posture towards the new Polish government.”
“It is not immediately obvious how the Biden administration’s silence on the situation in Poland can be reconciled with past administration rhetoric regarding press freedom in Central Europe. Indeed, in recent years, administration officials have appeared eager to comment on the state of media in neighboring countries, particularly Hungary after its citizens elected a conservative government,”
Vance wrote.
He referred to Blinken’s position on the media situation in Hungary and highlighted similar stances taken by the European Union toward Hungary and the right-wing Polish government when Donald Tusk held a senior EU position.
“The United States and Poland have traditionally enjoyed close bilateral relations, reinforced by our shared appreciation for liberty and democracy. Poland is a valuable ally and one of the few countries to meet its two percent NATO defense spending benchmark in 2023. I urge you to encourage Poland’s new government to reconsider any actions that could undermine it or the freedoms Polish and American citizens both hold dear,”
concluded the conservative Ohio senator in the letter.