German leader to visit Serbia seeking lithium for his country’s car industry

Belgrade, Serbia — BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visit Serbia later this week to discuss a tentative agreement with the Balkan country for controversial lithium excavation, a critical substance in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles, officials from both states confirmed Wednesday.

Germany, Europe’s largest car manufacturer, seeks to obtain lithium for its electric vehicle creators like the European Union struggle to reduce their dependency imports from china.

Porcelain It currently dominates the lithium-ion battery supply chain.

Serbia’s constitutional court annulled earlier this month a previous failure cancel a $2.4 billion excavation project launched by British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto in western Serbia, believed to be the largest lithium discovery in Europe.

The Serbian government decision to cancel The excavation plans come after thousands of protesters in Belgrade and other parts of Serbia in 2021 blocked major roads and bridges to oppose Rio Tinto’s plans due to potential environmental dangers. The protests They were the biggest challenge yet to Serbia’s increasingly autocratic government. President Aleksandar Vucic.

Protest leaders have pledged to restart their protests if the government’s new lithium excavation plans are implemented. Serbia’s Interior Minister said the police will not allow any more blockades of roads or railway lines.

German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic will attend a “critical raw materials summit” on Friday where a memorandum of understanding between the EU executive and Serbia will be drawn up. on a “strategic partnership” on sustainable raw materials and battery supply chains. and electric vehicles will be signed.

There will also be a letter of intent signed by the Serbian government and several companies related to the lithium mining project, he said.

The memorandum will contain a “commitment to high environmental and sustainability standards,” Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin. He noted that the Serbian government has responded to criticism from the region and said it is “good and important” that there are now higher standards for the project.

Vucic and other Serbian officials have said lithium digging will go ahead if Germany and other EU states build factories for their car batteries in Serbia, rather than directly exporting raw materials to those countries.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” said Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, referring to the provisional agreements that will be signed. “That means we have an advantage on our hands.”

Scholz will be one of the few EU leaders to visit Belgrade, as President Vucic has been mostly shunned by Western officials due to his close relations with Porcelain and Russia despite the war in Ukraine, a growing repression against independent media, accusations of rigged elections and veiled military threats against neighboring states.

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Associated Press writer Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.