In the latest escalation of the bitter struggle for control over Poland’s public media, the new government has announced that it is putting broadcasters TVP and Polskie Radio as well as the Polish Press Agency (PAP) into liquidation.

It says it has made the unprecedented decision because President Andrzej Duda – an ally of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had turned state media outlets into propaganda mouthpieces – vetoed the government’s plans to provide funding next year for public media.