Impact of the Czech–Polish intergovernmental Turów dispute on mental distance and cross-border integration: Avoiding problems, or neighbours?

Abstract

The Turów lignite coalmine, a decisive economic actor and employer, is situated on the Polish side of the trilateral Euroregion Neisse–Nysa–Nisa. The decision to continue coal mining until 2044 was disputed, as Czech authorities raised concerns about its negative impact on the environment. This resulted in a Czech–Polish dispute that ended with an intergovernmental agreement in February 2022. However, during the 2 years preceding the conflict resolution, the dispute caused controversy in this part of the borderland, which was considered well-integrated thanks to the activities of the Euroregion Neisse–Nysa–Nisa created in 1991. Thus, we examine the impact of this dispute on mental distance in this part of the borderland and the resilience of cross-border integration through interviews with local stakeholders and surveys with local inhabitants. Our research reveals that the impact of the dispute on cross-border integration was twofold: whereas already cooperating actors tended to avoid the controversy with partners from the other side of the border, surveyed local citizens tended to avoid crossing borders to their neighbouring region. We conclude that mutual trust constantly promoted by facilitating various forms of cross-border connections and interactions is a significant precondition for lasting cross-border partnerships and networks, not only in the region under study.