Serbia: Protests on the cards if lithium mining goes ahead

In the villages of the Jadar Valley in western Serbia, even recent scorchingly high temperatures haven't stopped farmers from working in the fields. About 18,000 people live in this area, mostly young families with children who rely on the valley's fertile land.

In the last five years, their lives have been turned upside down by the plans of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto to open a lithium mine in the area.

The family of veterinarian and farmer Zlatko Kokanovic has lived here for generations. He knows the area like the back of his hand and is certain that the mine and the community cannot exist side by side.

"The plan is that the main processing plant will be here — just a few hundred meters away from our church. Between 4,000 and 5,000 tons of rock material will be crushed there daily, treated with 1,000 tons of sulfuric acid, and washed with huge amounts of water, which will then end up in the River Jadar," Kokanovic told DW.

Fierce local opposition to mining plans

Kokanovic's home is often used as a "crisis HQ" for the association Ne damo Jadar, which means "We won't give up Jadar" and was set up by residents of the Jadar Valley who want to stop the opening of the mine.

The association argues that if locals have to leave their properties, they will not only lose their homes but also their primary source of income, and that the mine will devastate the environment.

"Cars for Europe, batteries for the Chinese, and landfills, diseases, cancers and who knows what else for us Serbs. It's better to mine in Serbia than in Germany or France," Dragan Karajcic of the association Ne damo Jadar told DW.

Divided opinions

There has been heated debate about the future of the region's vast lithium deposits for five years now.

For locals and many Serbian citizens, the project poses a significant environmental threat. For others, it constitutes a path to economic prosperity and a development opportunity for Serbia.

After mass protests across the country, the Serbian government decided in 2022 to halt the lithium mining project. "With this, as far as the Jadar and Rio Tinto project is concerned, everything is finished. It's over," declared then-Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.

Serbian government U-turn

Earlier this month, however, Serbia's Constitutional Court annulled the government's decision, stating it was "not in accordance with the Constitution or the law." The government has now decided to proceed with the project.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic indicated in June that lithium extraction could begin as early as 2028, having received new guarantees from mining giant Rio Tinto.

"We believe that the mine will not endanger anyone or anything," said Vucic, "But first, we have to get guarantees from Europe that the environment and the lives of ordinary citizens will be preserved and improved with new jobs and better salaries."

Rio Tinto has praised the government's decision, promising compliance with the highest standards of environmental protection and the creation of thousands of jobs.

EU supports lithium mining in Serbia

The European Union has repeatedly expressed its interest in Serbia's lithium deposits. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission Vice President for Energy Maros Sevcovic will visit Belgrade on Friday, July 19, to attend the "Critical Raw Materials Summit," during which Serbia and the EU will sign a strategic partnership memorandum that includes provisions for lithium mining.

For opposition MP Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta, the current situation is "an epic crime against people and nature." He called Scholz a "little American puppet" and says the German chancellor has taken the liberty of displacing people who "feed Serbia" from Gornje Nedeljice, one of the villages that will be most affected by the Rio Tinto mine.

"Let Scholz and Sevcovic come to Zlatko Kokanovic and tell him: 'Look, Zlatko, I want lithium. The condition for that is you and your 100,000 liters of milk production disappear, and you move from your field.' Could he say that to a German farmer?" Jovanovic Cuta said to DW. He warns that there will be "a rebellion" in the coming weeks and months.

'Mine your lithium in Germany, Mr. Scholz'

For Zlatko Kokanovic, the current situation does not come as a surprise. Ne damo Jadar repeatedly warned the public that even after the government decided to stop the project, Rio Tinto did not leave the Jadar Valley, but merely reduced its activities.

"There is three times more lithium in Germany, Mr. Scholz, and it is found in underground thermal waters where it is much simpler to exploit and where there would be much less impact on the environment. Go ahead, mine your lithium in Germany," Kokanovic said in a video on the association's Facebook page addressing the German chancellor.

Kokanovic said that the group is not planning a protest for the arrival of the European delegation, but is focusing on other activities instead.

"We will not chase them around Belgrade and have no intention of wasting our strength and energy because it is clearly the plan and goal of this government to arrest us and put us behind bars. We will not allow them to do that," he said.

Protests and arrests

At the last major protest at the end of June, Ne damo Jadar gave the Serbian government until August 10 to adopt a law permanently banning geological research and the exploitation of lithium and boron in Serbia. Otherwise, members of the association warned, they would block railways and roads again, as protesters have done in the past.

MP Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta is convinced that Vucic will "break his teeth" on this topic. "We are dealing with a company that no normal country would welcome, but that's why they found Aleksandar Vucic, a great brave fighter, who does not have the courage to defend his people but put himself in the service of Rio Tinto," he told DW.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto continues its activities. They have already bought 161 hectares of the 854 hectares of land they are planning to buy in the Jadar Valley. Just over 50 households have been displaced so far. Of the 250 that remain, many homeowners say that no amount of money will persuade them to leave their properties.

But the company has also used rather an unusual tactic to persuade residents otherwise: Locals say that the company has offered homeowners an additional 5% on the purchase price if they remove the roof of their house.

These roofless houses create a grim atmosphere in the village: "They are killing us psychologically," says resident Dragan Karajcic, "It is a psychological war."

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan