The Danish authorities have withdrawn the environmental permit for the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline in part of its territory on the grounds of the construction interfering in the habitat of mice and bats. Minister Piotr Naimski denied that this decision should in any way be linked to the decision recently taken by the European Court Justice (ECJ) on the Turow power plant in the south of Poland.
Both are serious but entirely separate events, said the minister, but he acknowledged the presence of active Russian lobbying.
“Russian lobbying with regard to energy is global in scale. It is performed not just by lobbyists but also the intelligence and security apparatus. But that does not always mean that any event is the effect of direct Russian influence. They were obviously happy to see us having problems in Denmark, but I have to stress that the Danish authorities are actively engaged in trying to resolve this blockage,” said minister Naimski.
The minister also reassured the public over a recent breakdown in the Bełchatów power plant. It caused no outages and showed that the energy system is secure even when tested.
Czechia asks to impose a fine of €5 million per day on Poland
Naimski was, however, more concerned about the Turów power plant. He admitted that should the power plant have to close, it would cause problems for electricity supplies in the west of Poland.
The mine is under threat as a result of a dispute with the Czech Republic.
On Tuesday, the Czech Republic asked the European Union’s top court to impose a fine of €5 million per day on Poland for not halting mining operations of the Turow lignite mine located on the border between the two countries despite an EU court order.
#ECJ : #CzechRepublic asks the Court to impose a daily € 5 million penalty on #Poland for not having immediately ceased the #lignite mining activities in the #Turów #coal mine located on the Czech border #environment (C-121/21 R)
— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) June 15, 2021
In May, after litigation from the Czechs, the European Court of Justice ordered the coal mine in Turów to suspend extraction. The Czechs have based their case on negative environmental impact on the cross-border areas and adverse effects on the water table in the region.
