Poland’s prime minister on Wednesday vowed to resist attempts to close the Turow lignite mine, likening a court ruling that work at the site should be suspended over environmental concerns to an assault on the country’s sovereignty.
Environmental groups have long criticised the environmental impact of the open-pit mine, located just across the border from the Czech Republic. Poland agreed to pay the Czech Republic €45m in compensation to settle the row, but Warsaw has had European Union funding withheld over a failure to pay fines related to the dispute. The judgement regarding environmental permission for the extension of the concession is not final and the government and the mine’s owner – the state controlled energy company PGE – can appeal.
„We will definitely not let this mine close, we will do everything to make it function normally until 2040,” said Polish PM, Mateusz Morawiecki.
