(Warsaw) The new Polish ambassador in Prague is about to be recalled for having criticized his country in the conflict with the Czech Republic over a coal mine, the government announced in Warsaw on Thursday evening.
“Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has decided to start the procedure for recalling the Polish Ambassador to the Czech Republic. Extremely irresponsible statements about the Turow mine are not acceptable, ”Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller said on Twitter.
The Czech Republic is demanding the closure of this mine, located near the border with this country.
PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
According to Prague, the operation of this open-pit lignite mine has negative effects on the environment of border regions where residents complain about noise, dust and reduced water supply.
In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Polish Ambassador Miroslaw Jasinski expressed confidence in a future “amicable” solution to the conflict around the mine.
Speaking on the origins of the conflict around the mine, however, he said that “it was a lack of empathy, a lack of understanding and a lack of will to engage in dialogue. above all on the Polish side ”.
In May, the Court of Justice of the EU, seized by Prague, ordered, in a decision rendered in summary (urgent) last May, the “immediate” cessation of the exploitation of the mine. This decision was followed in September by the condemnation of Warsaw to a fine of 500,000 euros per day until the shutdown of the lignite mine.
The Polish authorities indicated that they refused to pay these penalties, deeming this “illegal sanction”.
Miroslaw Jasinski officially took up his post as Polish Ambassador to Prague on December 20. The Polish diplomatic mission in Prague had been without an ambassador since June 2020.