Thewesternbalkans
The international agencies have informed that on Monday (29 July) thousands rallied in Serbia against the approval of a lithium mine near the western city of Loznica. The once-shelved mine is central to an agreement signed this month by the European Union and Serbia to develop the supply of lithium, seen as a crucial building block to achieve Europe’s transition to a green economy. Rio Tinto claims the lithium mine planned in the Jadar Valley region will be among the biggest in Europe and make the company one of the top ten lithium producers in the world.
Chanting “Rio Tinto go away”, hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Arandjelovac, Sabac, Kraljevo and Ljig.
Three of the marches attracted at least 1,000 people according to images broadcast by Serbia’s television.
Addressing the Kraljevo march, environmental activist Nebojsa Kovandzic said that Serbia’s “authorities work for their own interests, and never for the interest of the citizens”. “Apart from all the institutions, they have occupied our rivers, our forests,” Kovandzic said.
Activists fear the project will damage water and land in western Serbia, while some Serbs say they feel steamrollered by the powerful multinational mining giant. They also claim the financial benefits for the country will be small and note that Rio Tinto’s various ventures around the world have often been dogged by controversy.
Lithium mining is a chemical-intensive process that involves digging up vast amounts of rock and extracting those with lithium.
Comments: Do they (protestors) have any chance to prevail?
Let us see:
Serbia’s government shelved the project in January 2022, following months of escalating protests and growing public anger.
“Everything is finished. It’s over,” said then Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. The move came just before elections in April that year.
On 19 July 2024 the European Union and Serbia signed a Memorandum of understanding for supply of battery materials during a “critical raw materials summit”. The project has strong backing from the UK, Australia, the US and the EU. The EU imports almost all of the lithium it uses but has ambitions to secure an entire supply chain of battery minerals and materials, as the demand for lithium is predicted to grow 18 times by 2030 and 60 times by 2050, mainly as a result of the transition to electric vehicles powered by batteries using lithium.
After the signing, Vucic told media that he will “personally fight” for the environment and lives of residents of the Jadar Valley.
“We believe in enormous progress for our country, it will bring us 6 billion euros in foreign direct investments. By far the biggest investments we have ever had in our country,” Vucic said.
The importance of the agreement was underscored by the presence of top international banking executives.
Serbian Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarovic signed a letter of intent on the development of the e-mobility value chain within Serbia with Odile Renaud-Basso, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development president Christine Lagarde, member of the executive board at KfW Group, a German state-owned investment and development bank, Rio Tinto Group CEO Jakob Stausholm, and the chairman of the board of management of the Mercedes-Benz Group, Ola Kallenius, as well as representatives of other companies.
It is not so difficult to answer the question.
