Today in Strasbourg, during the European Parliament’s plenary session, a tribute was paid to investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, who were murdered in 2018 at their home in the Slovak village of Velká Maca near Trnava. On this occasion, a debate was held on supporting media freedom, strengthening the rule of law, and protecting journalists in the EU, during which PiS MEP Małgorzata Gosiewska took the floor.
Małgorzata Gosiewska recalled that the murder of the journalist and his fiancée took place on February 21, 2018. “It was a brutal execution of an investigative journalist who had revealed information about informal ties between the worlds of politics and business, and at the same time a blatant attack on press freedom in Slovakia,” she emphasized.
The PiS MEP noted that, unfortunately, press freedom is curtailed every day by opaque and authoritarian governments seeking to cover up their own incompetence.
In this context, she spoke about the situation in Poland, where, following the change in government in 2023, public television was forcibly and unlawfully taken over. Furthermore, she added, journalists from independent media outlets are being intimidated and are barred from attending Prime Minister Tusk’s press conferences.
“All of this is happening in Poland, where Prime Minister Tusk claims to have finally restored the ‘rule of law.’ I suppose it’s the Lukashenko-style rule of law. Hatred toward journalists has nothing to do with the rule of law. We must defend press freedom!” the Polish politician urged.
