WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday that his government will protect major television stations in the country, like the U.S.-owned TVN, against hostile purchases, in a move aimed at protecting from any such attempts by Russia.
Tusk stressed that the directive to be adopted next week is to safeguard against Russia’s attempts to influence Europe’s democracy and political processes. He pointed to the recent presidential election in Romania that was voided on allegations of Russian influence.
The election was a “negative event" that “confirmed Russia's incessant readiness to attack with the use of increasingly more sophisticated methods and tools,” Tusk said.
Poland and other countries supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia's military aggression have been targeted by cyber attacks on their electricity grids, banking systems and state offices.
Tusk said that Poland’s most popular station TVN, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, and the private Polsat station will be added to a list of protected businesses that require government permission to sell.
“TVN and Polsat will be put in the register of strategic firms that are under protection against hostile takeover or one that is considered dangerous from the point of view of the interest of the Polish state,” Tusk said,
He spoke alongside visiting Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, as both stressed they share views on protecting the region's security in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. Both countries, who are members of the European Union bordering Russia, provide Ukraine with political, military and humanitarian support.
“We want to protect our countries and the European Union against interference into the electoral processes or attempts at taking over or interfering with the work of our media,” Tusk said.
Media reports say that Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to sell TVN and that the right-wing and EU-sceptic Law and Justice party might be interested in buying it. Polsat is at the center of bitter infighting over its control within its owner, Zygmunt Solorz's family.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Estonia's Prime Minister Kristen Michal talk before a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks to reporters in Dabrowka, Poland, during a visit to Poland's border with Russia on Saturday Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
SYDNEY (AP) — A team from rugby league hotspot Papua New Guinea will enter the National Rugby League beginning in 2028 after officially being granted a license on Thursday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinean counterpart James Marape met in Sydney to shake hands over the deal, the culmination of two years of planning. The pair reached an in-principle agreement with the NRL in May, and have since been working out specifics.
“A Papua New Guinea NRL team is a game-changer for Australia’s relationship with PNG and a unifying force — no two countries have a greater passion for rugby league," Albanese said in a statement Thursday. “Australia’s relationship with the Pacific is profoundly important and our sporting ties are unique."
The final legal documents to ratify the team’s creation are expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
The as-yet-unnamed team is seen as key diplomatic tool for Australia to strengthen ties in the hotly-contested Pacific, particularly with China's e fforts to increase its influence in the region, and will cost Australian taxpayers 600 million Australian dollars ($380 million) over 10 years.
It will be either the NRL’s 18th or 19th franchise, pending further expansion plans into Perth, Western Australia.
Players will be granted tax incentives to relocate to PNG, and will live in a secure compound in the capital Port Moresby to be organized and funded by the PNG government. Recruitment of players is still two years away — league rules mean the new franchise will have to wait until November 2026 to begin approaching players on other NRL teams.
“This one team will be for one people, one country, one nation, a national unifier," PNG leader Marape said in a statement. “An NRL team for PNG is more than just sports — it is a national unification strategy."
Rugby league is a 13-man version of the 15-player sport of rugby union. League is played primarily in Australia, New Zealand, England and France but also is played in other countries such as the United States, Lebanon, which both have national teams, and other countries in the Pacific.
The 10-team Rugby League World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia and Papua New Guinea in 2026. It was originally scheduled for France in 2025.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape gestures during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
An attendee records Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape speaking during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, left, gestures during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
