Serbia: Tens of Thousands Protest Lithium Mining Project
Serbia: Tens of Thousands Protest Against Lithium Mining Project
The Facts
Tens of thousands of protesters went through Belgrade, Serbia, on Saturday to protest plans to mine the Jadar Valley, one of Europe's largest lithium deposit, amid concerns over potential ecological damage.Tens of thousands of protesters went through Belgrade, Serbia on Saturday to protest plans to mine the Jadar Valley, one of Europe's largest lithium deposits, citing concerns over potential ecological damage.
This is reminiscent of protests that successfully stopped the plan to lithium mine two years ago, and comes as a tentative deal with the EU on "critical raw materials" last month revived mining plans in Serbia.This is reminiscent of protests that successfully stopped the plan to mine lithium two years ago, and comes as a tentative deal with the EU on "critical raw materials" last month revived mining plans in Serbia.
The Spin
The EUgovernment has encouragedignored the right-wingadvice government of Serbiaboth scientists and Anglo-Australian mining companyspecialists Rioin Tintopushing toforward buildwith athis lithiumproject. The mine inwill contaminate the Jadarwater, Valleyland, despiteair, widespreadand pollutionpeople riskswith becausetoxic itsubstances, doesn'tand careaffect atnot allonly about either Serbia, andbut itsalso neighborsneighboring or even the environmentcountries. Serbians must keep protesting to protect their ownland landand the environment.
This project is as good for Serbia as it is for the EU. The planned lithium mine is set to provide Europe with critical raw materials, reducing its dependence on Chinese imports for mobile phones and EV batteries, while attracting a substantial amount of foreign direct investment tofor Serbia and promoting job creation in the country.