diff --git a/config.default.yaml b/config.default.yaml
index 0ec5e9fb..20c05727 100755
--- a/config.default.yaml
+++ b/config.default.yaml
@@ -262,6 +262,8 @@ clustering:
     algorithm: kmeans # choose from: [hac, kmeans]
     feature: solar+onwind-time # only for hac. choose from: [solar+onwind-time, solar+onwind-cap, solar-time, solar-cap, solar+offwind-cap] etc.
     exclude_carriers: []
+    remove_stubs: true
+    remove_stubs_across_borders: true
   cluster_network:
     algorithm: kmeans
     feature: solar+onwind-time
diff --git a/scripts/simplify_network.py b/scripts/simplify_network.py
index 2c7f8413..38446e46 100644
--- a/scripts/simplify_network.py
+++ b/scripts/simplify_network.py
@@ -395,7 +395,9 @@ def simplify_links(n, costs, config, output, aggregation_strategies=dict()):
 def remove_stubs(n, costs, config, output, aggregation_strategies=dict()):
     logger.info("Removing stubs")
 
-    busmap = busmap_by_stubs(n)  #  ['country'])
+    across_borders = config["clustering"]["simplify_network"].get("remove_stubs_across_borders", True)
+    matching_attrs = [] if across_borders else ['country']
+    busmap = busmap_by_stubs(n, matching_attrs)
 
     connection_costs_to_bus = _compute_connection_costs_to_bus(n, busmap, costs, config)