Bytom

He spoke as he visited the Central Mining Rescue Station in Bytom, in southern Poland.

Bytom is still suffering from its last botched attempt to transition from coal in the 1990s.

Most mines were closed in a post-communist restructuring of Poland’s coal industry between 1996 and 2005, and Bytom’s death spiral began.

Today, Bytom has the highest unemployment rate among towns in Silesia, Poland’s coal-mining heartland.

Today, as Bytom’s mayor, Wolosz is fighting again, this time for a share of a new European Union fund designed to shift coal-dependent regions towards a greener economy.