English Section

Warsaw recalls its ambassador to Prague after criticism

08.01.2022 09:30
Poland has started the procedure for immediately recalling its ambassador from the Czech Republic, government spokesman Piotr Müller has said.
Turów lignite mine
Turów lignite mineFoto: PAP/Aleksander Koźmiński

The reason for the move was the diplomat’s controversial  interview for the German-owned Deutsche Welle news agency.

Commenting on the Polish-Czech dispute over a border coal mine, ambassador Mirosław Jasiński had made "irresponsible statements," Müller wrote in a tweet. “Every Polish diplomat’s duty is to support  Polish interests," he added.

Queried about the Turów open-cast lignite mine, which according to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is damaging the environment on the Czech side of the frontier, Jasiński said that the Poles had shown no empathy, understanding or goodwill to start a dialogue.  He went on to denounce the "arrogance of certain people", pointing at the state-owned mine's management, as another reason for the row.

 Commenting on the statements on Twitter, Poland’s Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin wrote that "reckless repetition of foreign narratives harms Polish interests."

Jasiński was appointed to Prague in early November but did not officially assume his duties until December 20.

Last September, the CJEU said that Poland must pay a EUR 500,000 daily fine to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, for defying an order to halt operations at Turów. The court had sided with Prague in ruling that the mine was damaging the environment.

(mo)

Source: IAR, PAP