Local politicians in north Czech Republic oppose proposals to change Czech-Polish border

Local councilors in the north Bohemian region of Liberec have said that they are firmly against proposals to change the Czech-Polish border in the region, ceding some 43 hectares of land to Poland. Dispute over the Czech-Polish border dates back to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, with Poland insisting that it lost 69 hectares of land in the process. Land compensation has been paid by the Czechs, but the dispute flared up again with the fall of communism in 1989. Governors in the Liberec region have said that they are unwilling to hand over the land in question because they fear the environmental consequences. They worry that an existing coal-burning plant on the Polish side of the border would expand, moving closer to the north Bohemian town of Kunratice.