Residents of Serbia’s lithium-rich region vow to block EU-backed mining

GORNJE NEDELJICE, Serbia. Zlatko Kokanović does not want a lithium mine in his backyard and will do everything he can to prevent it from opening.

“All of us here are willing to lose our lives,” the 48-year-old farmer told The Associated Press. “They can shoot. Only then will they be able to open the mine.”

At stake is a lush agricultural valley in western Serbia that is home to one of the richest carbon deposits in Europe. lithiuma precious metal used to make batteries for electric cars and which is crucial for the global transition to green energy.

The question of whether there should be a mine in the valley or not has become one of the most contentious issues in the Balkan nation. sparking protests by thousands of people in a challenge to the populist President Aleksandar Vucić.

While the government insists the mine is an opportunity for economic development, critics say it would cause irreparable pollution in the Jadar Valley, along with groundwater reserves, agricultural land and two small rivers that run through the valley. .

Thousands of people are expected to attend a large demonstration on Saturday in the capital Belgrade, calling for a law banning lithium mining anywhere in Serbia.

Kokanovic will be present with his group “Ne Damo Jadar” or “We will not give up Jadar”.

“We are not interested in your profits. We were born on this land and we will die on this land,” said Kokanović, who has five children. “This land is not anyone’s property, it is our children’s.”

The multinational mining company Rio Tinto has been exploring lithium and boron deposits in the Jadar Valley for 20 years. The company has drawn up plans to open a mine.

Throughout its 150-year history, Rio Tinto has faced accusations of corruption, environmental degradation and human rights abuses at its excavation sites, a history that has alarmed Jadar residents and Serbian environmental protection groups.

Mass protests in 2021 and 2022 forced the Serbian government to temporarily suspend the mining planonly to reactivate it in July before signing a memorandum on “critical raw materials” with the EU in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Dubravka Djedović Handanović, Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy, told the AP in an interview that the Jadar Valley contains about 158 ​​million tons of lithium, or about 17% of the total estimated reserves on the European continent.

Jadar, he said, is “one of the best explored lithium sites in Europe and probably one of the best in the world” and could “place Serbia as the leading country not only in Europe but also in the whole world” as far as to fight climate change.

Djedović Handanović’s signature is on the EU memorandum that envisages a “strategic partnership” on sustainable raw materials, battery supply chains and electric vehicles. The plan is not only to export raw materials but also to promote new technologies in Serbia.

Any potential excavation will meet the EU’s highest standards, Handanović said, pledging that “we will not do anything if it has such a negative impact that it is detrimental.”

“In that case the project will not be developed,” he said, complaining about the “misinformation” supposedly spread about the project.

In response, the government has created a call center and medical team to monitor any potential health risks, he said.

While it could bring Serbia closer to the EU and help reduce Dependence on China for lithium.Critics argue that the risks of lithium mining still outweigh the benefits.

Serbia is a candidate nation for EU membership, but also has close ties to Russia and China. China owns the country’s largest copper mine in eastern Serbia.

Dragana Djordjević, a research professor at the University of Belgrade and an expert in environmental chemistry, is part of a group of Serbian academics who discovered in a study that the land in the Jadar Valley had already been damaged during exploration.

Jadar, Djordjević said, is an agricultural area with groundwater and rivers that often flood and can wash any toxic materials downstream. The mine is “a huge risk for the entire region,” he said.

Rio Tinto has said it will build an underground mine in accordance with EU safety standards. In a brief email to the AP, the company’s Serbian subsidiary said they “favor fact-based public dialogue” and cited a separate draft environmental study that urged interested parties to submit comments.

Officials have said the mine would not open before 2028. Vučić has described the current anti-lithium protests as political, orchestrated by unspecified foreign powers and directed against him and the government.

In the valley, Rio Tinto Sava company properties are marked with “no trespassing” signs and sealed with plastic tape. The mine would encompass about 500 acres of the sprawling valley, which is dotted with corn and soybean fields.

Vladan Jakovljević, in his 60s, lives in the village of Stupnica, in the hills overlooking the valley. He also will not give up his way of life, his hives and a healthy environment for his family.

If the mine opened, he said, “there would be no life for us.”

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AP writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report.