Czech and Polish citizens of the divided border town of Cesky Tesin/Cieszyn gathered on Friendship Bridge on Monday evening to highlight what they see as the absurdity of continuing border restrictions due to Coronavirus.
Around 200 people from both sides of the Czech-Polish border gathered on the bridge for a silent protest against the ongoing restrictions put in place by the Czech authorities, Czech Radio reports. The event was attended by representatives of both the Czech and Polish town councils, including the mayor of Cieszyn on the Polish side.
The Czech government has designated the Polish province of Silesia as high-risk and requires all Czechs returning from there and all Poles crossing into the Czech Republic from there to provide a negative Coronavirus certificate within 72 hours or self-isolate for 14 days. Local people say it is destroying business and family ties as they are used to crossing the river to visit the other side several times a day.
“We’re one city. If you say the border’s going to open, then it should be open on both sides. If you only open it on one side, then to me that’s not opening it,” the mayor of Cieszyn, Gabriela Staszkiewicz, told Czech Radio.
Source:Â bbc.com