29 August 2007
The Polish government wants to channel money from European Union development funds into the ultra-Catholic radio station ‘Radio Maryja’ founded and run by the controversial priest Tadeusz Rydzyk. However, EU officials in Brussels were quick to stress that no final funding decision had been made for the broadcaster, which figured on a list of 350 projects shortlisted by the Polish government for EU financing.
According to the Polish Regional Development Ministry, Radio Maryja plans to set up a journalistic academy and its request for funding had received backing from the ministry. "This project conforms to the aims of the program meant to promote technical and computer training," the head of the ministry, Grazyna Gesicka, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. A European Commission spokeswoman stressed that the EU had not yet taken any decision as the Polish list had not yet been officially presented to Brussels and pointed out that EU members were obliged to respect various European laws, including ones prohibiting discrimination.
Radio Maryja was founded in 1992 by Rydzyk. The station frequently broadcasts nationalistic and anti-Semitic messages to a large audience. Rydzyk was recently the target of 17 lawsuits sparked by anti-Jewish comments he made to students at his journalism school. However the suits were dropped last week when prosecutors decided the statements "were not of a prohibited nature".
