Polish PM: Dispute with Czechia over Turów coal mine will “fade away” after elections

Prague’s objections to Poland expanding a coal mine near the shared border will “fade away” after the Czech parliamentary elections in October, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a radio interview, ČTK reports.

Morawiecki told the Polish radio station RMF FM that the Czech side had taken inappropriate steps in the affair, which he called a “serious but local dispute, taking place in the shadow of the election in the Czech Republic.”

The European Union’s Court of Justice this May ordered Poland to suspend mining at Turów until it could rule on a Czech lawsuit filed in February that argued operations there threaten the quality of drinking water and air in the Liberec Region of north Bohemia.

However, Morawiecki announced that Poland would not obey the order as it could have a negative impact on employment in Poland. The Czech Republic asked the Court to fine Warsaw for every day in which mining would continue.