Academic community writes to EC, protests initiative to make Jadar EU strategic project

The petition is supported by the signatures of almost 3,000 academic community members. The protesters gathered outside the University of Belgrade Rector’s Office and then marched to the EU Delegation offices in New Belgrade. The protesters included many university professors, students, citizens and members of the We Won’t Give Jadar association.

Academic Slobodan Vukosavic from the University of Belgrade School of Electrical Engineering said the main message from the members of Serbia’s academic community is that the European Commission’s proposal to approve Rio Tinto’s Jadar project and classify it as an EU strategic project under the European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) must be rejected.

Vukosavic read out the academic community’s letter to the European Commission, addressed to the head of the delegation and EU’s Ambassador to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret.

This is their letter:

Your Excellency,
Honorable Mr. Emanuele Giaufret,

We address you on behalf of the academic community of Serbia, supported by our students engaged in protests, as well as by citizens who have been demonstrating for years against the intentions of the company "Rio Tinto"- with the backing of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and institutions of the European Union - to proceed with the implementation of the "Jadar" mineral extraction and processing project.

We advocate for comprehensive progress in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, ensuring full protection of all individuals and communities from subjugation to more powerful entities, with the aim of achieving justice and equal rights for all.

We are convinced that:

• Living in a healthy environment and a safe surrounding is our fundamental right;
• Water represents an invaluable natural resource and an inherent public good;
• Agricultural land is of vital national interest to the Republic of Serbia;
• The protection, preservation, and enhancement of forests and overall biodiversity is a matter of common interest for all citizens;
• Air, as a natural asset of general interest, must be afforded special protection;
• The right to a healthy environment and full access to information regarding its condition is constitutionally guaranteed to all citizens;
• All entities, particularly decision-makers in the Republic of Serbia and abroad, are obliged to respect these fundamental ecological principles and the constitutional rights of citizens.

We are deeply concerned about:

• The disregard of scientifically and professionally substantiated warnings regarding the potentially harmful and irreversible consequences that the "Jadar" Project would have on natural resources, the environment, and assets of public interest;
• Scientifically proven, already occurring harmful effects in the form of water and soil contamination at locations where geological research for lithium and boron extraction in the Jadar Valley has been conducted for nearly the past two decades;
• The absence of any serious assessment of the "Jadar" project’s impact on public health in key strategic documents to date, apart from the mere statement that "some health impacts" will be monitored only after the project is implemented;
• The complete lack of transparency in "Rio Tinto"’s operations in Serbia, including the restriction imposed on state authorities preventing them from granting public access to relevant documents related to the development of the "Jadar" Project;
• The systemic violation of property rights through the expropriation of private assets in favor of the private interests of the multinational company "Rio Tinto";
• Documented breaches of Serbian law by "Rio Tinto", and its subsidiary "Rio Sava Exploration" d.o.o. Belgrade, in areas such as agricultural land protection, waste management, mining and geological research, environmental protection, and tax regulations;
• The legislative adjustments in the mining and geological research sector tailored to serve the interests of "Rio Tinto," including unconstitutional enactments of the
Environmental Impact Assessment Law and the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment Law, whose texts do not match the drafts introduced into parliamentary procedure and which were not amended during the legislative process;
• The alarming subservience of the Serbian state administration towards "Rio Tinto," resulting in the issuance of unlawful administrative acts favoring the company;
• The well-founded suspicion of systemic corruption surrounding the development of the "Jadar" Project, as evidenced by documented records;
• Indications that the relevant authorities of the Republic of Serbia, despite the overwhelming opposition of the majority of citizens, have granted direct approval to
"Rio Tinto" to submit the "Jadar" Project for consideration as a strategic project under the European Commission’s call for proposals issued last year within the framework of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).

We firmly believe that:

• Millions of Serbian citizens, exercising their sovereignty, will not allow the extraction and processing of jadarite minerals on their territory;
• The institutions of the European Union are aware of the rule of law deficiencies in Serbia and the questionable legitimacy of any government that supports the "Jadar" Project;
• The European Commission recognizes that financial investments by EU institutions in the "Jadar" Project would be highly risky due to the unfeasibility of a project opposed by the vast majority of Serbian citizens;
• Continued insistence by the European Commission on supporting the "Jadar" Project against the will of Serbian citizens would significantly undermine the credibility of the European Union and public trust in European institutions.

THE DEMAND

We hereby demand that the European Commission unequivocally REJECT the proposal by "Rio Tinto" to include the "Jadar" Project in the list of "strategic projects for the European Union in third countries," as outlined in the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).

We kindly request that this appeal be forwarded to the European Commission.

Members of the Academic Community of the Republic of Serbia