Czech, Polish officials meet in Prague to discuss dispute over Turów mine near shared border

Czech and Polish government representatives are meeting in Prague on Friday to discuss the future of a Polish coal mine near the shared border. Czech authorities want to halt the expansion of the Turów mine, citing concerns about the impact on water and air quality, among other things.

On Monday, the Court of Justice of the European Union fined Poland 500,000 euros for each day it continues to disobey a previous court order, stemming from a Czech law suit, suspending mining operations at the Turów site.

The Polish government and mine operator have said they do not intend to close the mine, as doing so would endanger the country’s energy security and lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the Czech Republic of acting “absolutely without good will” in resolving the dispute and in protest cancelled a trip on Thursday to the Budapest Demographic Summit, which his Czech counterpart, Andrej Babiš, was attending.

Polish media had reported earlier that the country’s negotiators were also considering cancelling Friday’s trip to Prague.