Europe's largest deposit Tens of thousands protest against lithium mine in Serbia

The government in Belgrade and the EU are in favor of mining lithium, which is important for the electrical industry, in Serbia. Environmentalists and many of the country's citizens are outraged.

Keystone-SDA

11.08.2024, 20:54

11.08.2024, 21:26

SDA

Large-scale protest against environmentally harmful mining: Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated in Belgrade against the planned mining of lithium in their country. They occupied two train stations in the Serbian capital on Sunday night. The police arrested a total of 19 demonstrators.

The officers only took action against the rail occupiers in the morning and cleared the stations. Smaller groups of blockaders were still there at the time. President Aleksandar Vucic condemned the station blockades, but signaled a willingness to talk and a possible referendum on the lithium project.

Serbia's lithium deal with Brussels

In the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Serbia's government signed a declaration of intent with EU Commission Vice-Chancellor Maros Sefcovic in Belgrade on July 19, which is intended to enable the environmentally friendly extraction of the highly sought-after light metal in the Jadar Valley.

Europe's largest lithium deposit is located in the Jadar Valley in western Serbia. The raw material is important for the production of electric cars. Belgrade gave the green light for lithium extraction in July of this year. Two years earlier, the government had temporarily halted this under pressure from environmentalists, who consider lithium extraction to be highly damaging to people and nature.

President of Serbia wants to talk to the people

Vucic explained that the occupation of the railroad stations was "not a contribution to democracy". He wants to talk to the residents living near the planned mine. "I simply do not understand why the people of this country wanted to destroy Serbia's economy," he said in a televised speech. "Do people in Serbia really think that I am stupid and crazy, that I will do something against my country and my people?" He did not rule out the possibility of a referendum on the issue, either just in the affected region or in Serbia as a whole.

According to Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, 14 people were arrested on suspicion of criminal offenses on the night of the protest, three others for misdemeanors and two foreigners for their presence at the demonstration near important state institutions. The police estimated the number of demonstrators at between 24,000 and 27,000. Non-governmental observers spoke of around 40,000 protesters.

Numerous people had already demonstrated against the lithium project in more than 40 Serbian cities over the past few days. The organizers announced further traffic blockades in the coming week, without giving details.

West wants to reduce lithium dependency on China

Germany and the EU want to use lithium mining in Serbia primarily to reduce their dependence on China. China controls a large part of the mining and processing of lithium worldwide. Serbia is officially a candidate for EU membership. At the same time, Serbia's President Vucic and other government politicians maintain close relations with Russia.

Environmentalists criticize, among other things, that lithium mining contaminates the groundwater with heavy metals and therefore poses a threat to the drinking water supply for local residents. "Is it patriotism to help a multinational company, or is true patriotism the fight for clean air, land and water that feeds us all in Serbia?" said actress Jelena Stupljanin at the protest rally in Belgrade. Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has been interested in the lithium project in Serbia for years.