Polish President Andrzej Duda vetoed a 2024 budget bill on the grounds that it would allow the new government with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to buy up three billion Polish Zloty ($762 million) worth of public media.
PM Tusk was appointed in December following the conservative party losing steam against a liberal coalition.
In a post to X, Duda explained that he would not allow the measure to go forward.
Translated from Polish to English, the post reads, "I decided to veto the budget-related act for 2024, which includes PLN 3 billion for public media. There cannot be consent to this in view of the flagrant violation of the Constitution and the principles of a democratic state of law."
"Public media must first be repaired reliably and legally," Duda added. He additionally stated that the move by PM Tusk and the new government amounts to "anarchy."
Duda said he would propose his own bill in its place.
Tusk and the new government of Poland moved to seize control of public media on Wednesday taking it from supporters of the Law and Justice party.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
