Thewesternbalkans
Despite protest and clear preparation for resistance of the people directly affected by the lithium production agreement, on 19 July Serbian President Alexander Vučić, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU energy commissioner Maroš Šefčovič signed a deal that would grant producers from EU member states access to raw materials mined in Serbia, which would include a big quantities of lithium.
If implemented, the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project could cover 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs and make Rio Tinto one of the world’s leading lithium producers. Lithium is a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile devices. Government officials say the lithium mine would boost Serbia’s economy, but environmentalists say the price for it would be too high.
As a result of the decision to develop the project, on Saturday 10-th of August a nationwide protests has been triggered in towns across Serbia. Protesters gave the government a deadline to ban the exploration and exploitation of lithium which expired on Saturday. Thousands of people gathered in central Belgrade demanding a halt to Rio Tinto’s lithium project in Western Serbia over fears it could pollute nearby land and water.
On the other hand, on Friday (9 August), President Alexander Vučić said authorities have received information from Russia that a coup was being planned in Serbia. In the same time Russian media informed that Ministry of foreign relations informed vice prime Aleksandar Vulin about the preparation of coup.
After the protest, Vucic accused the protesters of being part of a Western-backed “hybrid” war against his government.
Moscow appreciated Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s “determination to resist Western attempts to organize a color revolution” in Serbia, stated on 14 August Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in Moscow with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vulin, TASS informed. “We appreciated the firmness of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his entire team in opposing these attempts, in standing up for these principles that cause irritation in the West and serve the goals of undermining in every way the line of President Aleksandar Vucic for the unity of the Serbian people“, said the message published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Lavrov noted that the West had practiced color revolutions with varying degrees of success in Georgia and Ukraine. “Now something similar is happening in Moldova. Just recently another attempt was made to do the same in Serbia,” he pointed out. Lavrov recalled that the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabic, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Marko Djuric, were invited to visit Russia.
The announcement of the Russian ministry also states that Moscow and Belgrade will work to strengthen security in the Balkans and to prevent external interference in the region. Current aspects of the situation in the Balkans were also discussed at the meeting between Lavrov and Vulin. “The need to continue working together in the interests of strengthening security and stability and countering attempts at destructive external interference in regional affairs was emphasized,” the statement said.
Comments: Strange things are happening in the Balkans. The EU sends German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and its European Commissioner for Energy, Maros Šefčovič, to Belgrade to sign the contract of the future, but after the re-start of the organized protests, there is not a word in defense of Aleksandar Vucic. Russia, for its part, has warned of a “color revolution” brewing, and Serbian President Vucic has thanked Moscow by further developing the thesis with a statement of a “hybrid attack” by the West. Vice prime minister Alexander Vulin left the very next day for Moscow, where he met the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who thanked Serbia and swore eternal friendship between the two peoples.
Regardless of all that, Serbia, which is a candidate for EU membership, has repeatedly condemned Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow.
In the same time Germany, the power behind the “green deal” in Europe is pushing a project which environmental consequences are not very clear and Berlin is not showing any support for the “green” protests in Serbia.
That is a ”real politic” in action!!!
