Polish coal miners stage protest against EU court order to close Turów mine

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METALS & MINING

Around 2,000 Polish miners have staged a protest against a decision by the top EU court to close down the Turów coal mine and fine the country for non-compliance.

The protestors, dressed in yellow vests with the words "Hands off Turów" and waving the white and red flag of the Solidarnosc trade union gathered in front of the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg, claiming their rulings were unjustified and a posed a threat to Poland's energy security.

Read more: Defiant Polish PM refuses to shut coal mine despite EU court fine

"If they want to shut us down, we will shut down the EU court," said Wojciech Ilnicki, head of Solidarity at the mine, told reporters.

Brown coal, or lignite, is a major source of greenhouse gases when burned, and is still used in Poland to fuel several power stations.

The demonstrators chanted "We will not give Turów away" and left a protest letter at the court before marching to the Czech Embassy to protest Prague’s role in the court decision.

"Closing the mine would mean a big shortage of energy and a cataclysm in Poland’s energy system," Jaroslaw Grzesik, head of the Solidarity union’s branch for mining, told AP.

In May, the court ordered the Turów mine, which is located in southwestern Poland, close to the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic, to be closed after complaints by Prague that the mine’s operations negatively impacted nearby Czech villages, polluting the air and the water supply.

Poland has so far not acted on the court ruling, arguing that Turów and another nearby power plant generate some 7% of the nation’s energy and light up millions of households. Warsaw also argues that Prague finds no problem with a number of other large lignite mines that operate in the same area on the Czech side of the border and in nearby Germany.

Read more: German city joins calls for enforcement of water laws over Polish mine

Last month, the court ordered that Poland pay a €500,000 fine for each day it ignores its decision.

Talks with the Czech government have so far bore no results, despite Warsaw saying it has made generous offers to reach a compromise. Poland’s trade union leaders say Prague is defending the interests of its own mines in the region.

Poland is one of the most coal-dependent nations in the EU and considered something of a laggard when it comes to weaning itself off.

Despite the development of renewable energy sources, and the rising popularity of wind and solar power, coal - mostly black coal - still accounts for nearly 70% of the country’s energy mix in 2020.

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