Poland accuses Russia of exaggerated environmental claims in canal row

Polish MEP claims Russia's attempts to halt project giving access to Baltic Sea have ulterior political motives

Poland has accused Russia of using exaggerated environmental concerns to try to stop the construction of a canal project in a row over access to the Baltic Sea.

Russian news outlets have spent at least the past five years claiming the Vistula Spit canal will damage an EU-protected nature park. The canal cuts across a Polish section of the Vistula Spit, giving the country direct access to the Baltic Sea. Previously, all marine access was through the Russia-controlled Pilawa strait in the exclave of Kaliningrad.