Cieszyn-Český Těšín

The move to cooperation

Until 1989 and the end of the communist period, there had been no form of cooperation between Cieszyn and Česky Těšin. Crossing the border was not easy, despite Poland and Czechoslovakia both belonging to the Soviet bloc. Only Polish employees at the steelworks on the Czechoslovakian side regularly crossed the border.

It was only in 1998 that the two towns and neighbouring municipalities decided to sign an agreement to pave the way for institutionalised cooperation within the Euroregion Cieszyn Silesia. This cross-border territory, crossed by the Olza river, numbers 630,000 inhabitants (of whom 360,000 live on the Czech side).

Nowadays, the Euroregion is the main actor in terms of cross-border cooperation and has helped with the implementation of a number of projects in several areas, including culture, education, the environment, spatial planning, natural hazard management and prevention, and transport.