Poland vows to keep coalmine open despite €500,000-a-day ECJ fine

Warsaw argues suspension of operations at Turow on Czech border would put its energy security at risk

Poland's rightwing government has said it will continue to mine coal on its border with the Czech Republic despite being ordered to pay 500,000 for every day that it defies a European court of justice order to stop.

The fine was issued by the EU's highest court on Monday after four months of Warsaw ignoring an earlier order to suspend extraction of lignite, a low-quality brown coal, at the Turow opencast mine in south-west Poland.