President vetoes law on forest privatization

President of Poland Andrzej Duda has vetoed a law that would allow for selling state-owned forests in order to undertake public investments such as road or high-voltage line construction. In his opinion, "the law hasn't entailed sufficient tools to protect the forests against the change of status," the Chancellery of the President said. The amendment would allow the sale of forests, but only for public purposes or sustainable forest management. It prohibited selling them to raise budget revenues. Furthermore, it stipulated that everyone has the right to access forests owned by the Treasury on an equal footing.