Czech Senate approves Polish border records after false territorial claims

The Czech Senate approved updated records of the border with Poland on Wednesday, following false online claims last month that Poland was pressing to take over Czech territory.

Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar told senators that the changes do not alter the boundary. The documents record the results of a joint Czech-Polish inspection of border markers and still need to be considered by the Chamber of Deputies.

For residents and travelers near the border, the vote concerns how the existing boundary is marked and documented. It does not approve a transfer of land.

The two countries reviewed the condition and placement of markers along their shared border and corrected problems they found. The updated records account for changes in marker positions or elevations caused by natural factors, as well as markers that had been destroyed and replaced.

The government submitted the revised documents for parliamentary approval after the joint review. With the Senate’s vote complete, the lower house has yet to debate them.

The vote comes after misinformation spread in August through a fake profile posing as the Czech ambassador to Poland and a falsified Czech Radio website. The posts claimed Poland was increasing pressure to acquire Czech border territory.

The claims drew on a separate territorial issue dating to a 1958 treaty between Czechoslovakia and Poland. That agreement straightened the border through 85 large and small adjustments, shortening it by about 80 kilometers. A comparison of the land exchanged found that Czechoslovakia had retained an additional 368 hectares.

The countries’ foreign ministers reached an agreement in 1992 on settling the outstanding claim. Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka discussed it during a visit to Warsaw in February and said a flood protection project could provide a solution.

That historical issue remains separate from Wednesday’s vote. The documents before parliament concern the records and physical markers of the existing border, which Metnar said will remain unchanged.