Case study: The Battle for Jezeří Chateau: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search
no edit summary
(→‎The battle begins anew: Further information about Mining Act clause relating to expropriation)
No edit summary
 
(8 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
__NOTOC__
==Introduction==
==Introduction==


For Jezeří Chateau, perched dramatically on the foothills of the Ore Mountains in North-West Bohemia, its struggle for survival has been an enduring one over the centuries and reached its most critical moments in the latter half of the 20th century long after pan-European wars were consigned to history. From its role as a troop base in the Hussite Wars, the various radical reconstructions it underwent, its numerous changes of ownership, and its use and misuse by German troops during the Second World War,  Jezeří Chateau still faced almost inevitable ruin through deliberate neglect from the 1950s onward when the communist regime became transfixed by extracting as much of the surrounding coal deposits as possible, even at the expense of demolishing the chateau itself. Even now, after a successful fight to preserve the building, the threat of demise looms over the chateau once again as part of the equation to lifting the territorial mining limits imposed in the early 1990s.[[File:Jezeri jezero.jpg|thumb|Jezeří Chateau in 1882]]
For Jezeří Chateau, perched dramatically on the foothills of the Ore Mountains in North-West Bohemia, its struggle for survival has been an enduring one over the centuries and reached its most critical moments in the latter half of the 20th century long after pan-European wars were consigned to history. From its role as a troop base in the Hussite Wars, the various radical reconstructions it underwent, its numerous changes of ownership, and its use and misuse by German troops during the Second World War,  Jezeří Chateau still faced almost inevitable ruin through deliberate neglect from the 1950s onward when the communist regime became transfixed by extracting as much of the surrounding coal deposits as possible, even at the expense of demolishing the chateau itself. Even now, after a successful fight to preserve the building, the threat of demise looms over the chateau once again as various interest groups lobby to lift the territorial mining limits imposed in the early 1990s.[[File:Jezeri jezero.jpg|thumb|Jezeří Chateau in 1882]]


==The early history of the chateau==
==The early history of the chateau==
Line 254: Line 255:


Czech Coal, however, has said that should the mining ever continue beyond the current limits, a new road to the chateau and to the settlements in the Ore Mountains that depend on access via Horní Jiřetín would be built, or the old disused E13 road from Chomutov would be restored.<ref>Český rozhlas, 7.12.2010, "Jezeří again threatened by fissures". [http://www.rozhlas.cz/zpravy/politika/_zprava/820263]</ref>
Czech Coal, however, has said that should the mining ever continue beyond the current limits, a new road to the chateau and to the settlements in the Ore Mountains that depend on access via Horní Jiřetín would be built, or the old disused E13 road from Chomutov would be restored.<ref>Český rozhlas, 7.12.2010, "Jezeří again threatened by fissures". [http://www.rozhlas.cz/zpravy/politika/_zprava/820263]</ref>
In early 2011, a large landslide occurred on the edge of the Czechoslovak Army Mine below Jezeří that Czech Coal wanted to backfill and landscape at a cost of CZK 100 mil., for which the company used financial reserves earmarked for recultivation projects.<ref>Lidový noviny, 5 February 2011, "Fractured slopes under Jezeří Chateau to cost 100 million". [http://www.koreny.cz/news/utrzeny-svah-pod-zamkem-jezeri-vyjde-na-100-milionu/]</ref> Czech Coal stated at the time that “in view of the lack of the lack of soil in connection with the territorial ecological limits it is necessary to ensure the long-term stability of the slopes partially through mining methods i.e. backfilling, in combination with structural landscaping.”
Buřt accused the mining company of defending its irresponsibility by blaming Jiřetín and the limits, adding that the company was essentially admitting that it know about the possible risks. Continuing mining along the foothills would simply escalate the problem, not resolve it, said Buřt.
Buřt said that landslides into the mining pit occurred every year, but the one in early 2011 was one of the biggest. The regional organisation of the Green Party said the miners did not respect the laws of nature in the area. Thirty years previously it had been decided that mining would be diverted to a safer distance from the Ore Mountain foothills with the remaining land under the chateau park being preserved as a stabilising pillar. The Green Party representatives believed the landslide had disturbed the pillar.
But Czech Coal did not agree with the ecologists even after the slide. Its spokespeople referred to their views as “non-expert discussions and speculation”. The company rejected “professionally unfounded” claims about the threat to the Ore Mountains, Jezeří chateau, nearby settlements and neighbouring towns further from the mine. “Discussions about the stability of the slopes and the influence of the mining should be held at a professional level and not in the form of speculation”, said Czech Coal spokesperson Gabriela Benešová.<ref>Lidový noviny, 5 February 2011, "Fractured slopes under Jezeří Chateau to cost 100 million". [http://www.koreny.cz/news/utrzeny-svah-pod-zamkem-jezeri-vyjde-na-100-milionu/]</ref>


===Immediate threat of expanded mining reduced===
===Immediate threat of expanded mining reduced===
Line 259: Line 269:
Supporters of expanded brown coal mining beyond the existing limits took a major blow on 26 September 2012 when parliament agreed an amendment to the Mining Act which removed the right to expropriate private property for mining purposes. The amendment was criticised by the opposition parties in parliament: parliamentary Economic Committee chairman, Milan Urban, said the amendment could cause such large damage that it could be viewed in future as high treason, while Communist Party MP Kateřina Konečná said it could “wreck the state’s economic policy”.<ref>"Deputies remove the possibility of expropriation for mining." Aktuálně.cz, 26 September 2012. [http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/zivot-v-cesku/clanek.phtml?id=758656]</ref>
Supporters of expanded brown coal mining beyond the existing limits took a major blow on 26 September 2012 when parliament agreed an amendment to the Mining Act which removed the right to expropriate private property for mining purposes. The amendment was criticised by the opposition parties in parliament: parliamentary Economic Committee chairman, Milan Urban, said the amendment could cause such large damage that it could be viewed in future as high treason, while Communist Party MP Kateřina Konečná said it could “wreck the state’s economic policy”.<ref>"Deputies remove the possibility of expropriation for mining." Aktuálně.cz, 26 September 2012. [http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/zivot-v-cesku/clanek.phtml?id=758656]</ref>


President [[Vaclav Klaus]] provided some hope to the amendment’s critics when he exercised his right to veto the law change. Klaus justified his veto by saying the amendment would deprive the country of an important energy policy tool and would facilitate land speculation. “The law abolishes the institution of expropriation. Unlike the current version of the Mining Act, it provides for a very risky and problematic conflict between landowners and the owner of this mineral wealth, which is the state,” said Klaus as part of his rationale. “One can expect that the land underneath which are deposits owned by the state and which in exceptional cases it will not be possible to expropriate , will be purchased for speculative reasons  with an eye to recovering  a large amount of compensation from the state.” <ref>’Klaus vetoes Mining Act.  Expropriation ban would play into hands of speculators’, Lidový noviny, 19 November 2012 [http://www.lidovky.cz/klaus-vetoval-horni-zakon-ktery-rusi-moznost-vyvlastnovani-ptc-/zpravy-domov.aspx?c=A121119_160112_ln_domov_ape]</ref>
President Vaclav Klaus provided some hope to the amendment’s critics when he exercised his right to veto the law change. Klaus justified his veto by saying the amendment would deprive the country of an important energy policy tool and would facilitate land speculation. “The law abolishes the institution of expropriation. Unlike the current version of the Mining Act, it provides for a very risky and problematic conflict between landowners and the owner of this mineral wealth, which is the state,” said Klaus as part of his rationale. “One can expect that the land underneath which are deposits owned by the state and which in exceptional cases it will not be possible to expropriate , will be purchased for speculative reasons  with an eye to recovering  a large amount of compensation from the state.” <ref>’Klaus vetoes Mining Act.  Expropriation ban would play into hands of speculators’, Lidový noviny, 19 November 2012 [http://www.lidovky.cz/klaus-vetoval-horni-zakon-ktery-rusi-moznost-vyvlastnovani-ptc-/zpravy-domov.aspx?c=A121119_160112_ln_domov_ape]</ref>
 
Parliament, however, overturned Klaus’s veto and reconfirmed its original amendment to the Mining Act removing the expropriation clause. The amendment was supported by 120 MPs, including the government coalition, six opposition Social Democrats, all Věci veřejné (English: Public Affairs) MPs and two independent MPs. <ref>’The end of expropriation for mining. MPs overturn Klaus’s veto’, Lidový noviny, 19 November 2012 [http://www.lidovky.cz/snemovna-prehlasovala-klause-a-zrusila-vyvlastnovani-kvuli-tezbe-1d4-/zpravy-domov.aspx?c=A121219_115704_ln_domov_pef]</ref>


Parliament, however, overturned Klaus’s veto and reconfirmed its original amendment to the Mining Act removing the expropriation clause. The amendment was supported by 120 MPs, including the government coalition, six opposition Social Democrats, all Věci veřejné (English: [[Public Affairs]]) MPs and two independent MPs. <ref>’The end of expropriation for mining. MPs overturn Klaus’s veto’, Lidový noviny, 19 November 2012 [http://www.lidovky.cz/snemovna-prehlasovala-klause-a-zrusila-vyvlastnovani-kvuli-tezbe-1d4-/zpravy-domov.aspx?c=A121219_115704_ln_domov_pef]</ref>
===Pro-mining candidate wins Czech presidential eletions===
 
In January 2013, the Czechs elected Miloš Zeman, the former Social Democrat prime minister (1998-2002), as their new president in the first ever direction presidential election. Prior to the election, Zeman categorically stated that he was in favour of not only breaching the mining limits but expediting the whole process because it would help lower high unemployment in the region and the people of Horní Jiřetín would receive "decent" compensation for their property. "You can't let coal reserves lie dormant for 50 years ahead when our power stations would otherwise have to be shut down, or expensive coal would have to be imported from abroad," said Zeman.<ref>Česká televize, 21 February 2010. 'Miloš Zeman for breaching mining limits' [http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/ekonomika/81726-ovm-milos-zeman-pro-prolomeni-tezebnich-limitu/]</ref>
 
Curiously, despite such statements, the residents of Horní Jiřetín voted 60-40<ref> Presidential elections results, Czech Statistical Office [http://www.volby.cz/pls/prez2013/pe311?xjazyk=CZ&xnumnuts=4205&xobec=567175]</ref> for Zeman over his opponent Karel Schwarzenberg, who was known to have 'green' sympathies. A possible explanation lies in the fact that Schwarzenberg had made statements during the presidential campaign that called into question the immediate post-war Beneš Decrees which laid the basis for the expulsion of approximately three million Germans from Czechoslovakia. As Horní Jiřetín lies on the Czech-German border in what was formerly the German Sudetenland, it is likely that the local population viewed Schwarzenberg's alleged 'pro-Sudeten' statements more negatively than Zeman's pro-mining statements.


==Resources==
==Resources==
Line 270: Line 286:
==References==
==References==
<references/>
<references/>
{{License cc|Jan Marek, Andrew Barton}}
{{MOSUR}}
[[Category:Ore Mountains case study]]

Navigation menu