Tusk is an incredible person for us, Jarosław Grzesik, chairman of the National Mining and Energy Secretariat of NSZZ “Solidarność”, told PAP.
Of course, if it were any other situation, I have no problem meeting Mr. Tusk, but today as who? He is not a decision maker, such a meeting will yield nothing
— Jarosław Grzesik, chairman of the National Mining and Energy Secretariat of NSZZ “Solidarity,” told PAP.
A specific example
He referred to the words of the PO’s chairman, Donald Tusk, who stated: “I am open to contacts and relationships, including with trade union activists.”
I remember a few years ago when we met Mr Donald Tusk for a few months when he was still Prime Minister. There was a difficult situation in the mining industry at that time, we tried to negotiate this and after a few months, Mr. Tusk put us against the wind. We stayed with these negotiations like Himilsbach with Engels, and Mr. Tusk went to Brussels to take an important position
– said Jaroslaw Grzesik.
Tusk is an incredible person for us
– added.
He noted that if “Tusk became Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, we would have no choice.”
Donald Tusk’s statement about his willingness to also meet union members was made in response to a question about whether he planned to visit the Turów mine crew as part of his tour of Poland.
If Mr Tusk decides to come to Turów and if my colleagues decide to participate in this meeting, I will not come to such a meeting
– said the chairman of the National Mining and Energy Secretariat of NSZZ “Solidarity”.
The Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw made a decision on May 31 to suspend the implementation of the environmental decree regarding the coal mining concession for the Turów mine after 2026. The proceedings in this case are pending before the court in connection with the complaint against the environmental decree, which was issued in the autumn of 2022. Among others, the filed complaint Frank Bold Foundation, Greenpeace, Ecological Association EKO-UNIA, Die Grosse Kreisstadt Zittau (city of Zittau).
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki assured on Wednesday during a visit to the Turów lignite mine that the government will not allow the mine to close and will do everything “to ensure that the deposit remains operational until 2044”. The head of government called the decision of the Provincial Administrative Court “lawlessness and a clear blow to Polish interests”.
Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin said on Wednesday that the Turów case will still be subject to proceedings at the WSA, which “will deal with the handling of the substantive side of this application, the ruling related to it, but anyway, we will also complain about this decision, which is not substantive”.
Judge Łuczaj’s case
On Wednesday, the wPolityce.pl portal reported that Provincial Administrative Court judge Jarosław Łuczaj, who issued the Turów case in May, supported the letter from “Iustitia” who sided with the CJEU.
READ ALSO: OUR NEWS. The WSA judge of “Iustitia”, who made the decision to suspend the investment in Turów, signed the “caste” letter in defense of the CJEU
In September 2021, the Court of Justice of the EU fined Poland PLN 500,000. euros per day for not implementing a temporary measure and not stopping lignite mining at the Turów mine. The decision of the EU court was the result of a lawsuit brought by the Czech Republic against Poland. The Czech side believed that the expansion of the mine threatened access to water for the inhabitants of the Czech city of Liberec; they also complained about the noise and dust associated with the operation of the mine.
In February 2023, Poland reached an agreement with the Czech Republic, paying them EUR 35 million in compensation and transferring EUR 10 million to the Fund for Small Environmental Projects.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce