The anticipation surrounding German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Belgrade was perhaps only comparable to when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Serbian capital in January 2019, Radar weekly said.
Since then, more influential and more popular politicians have graced the halls of the Palace of Serbia, yet none of them as important to us – it was understood that the focal point of the meeting would be the Jadar project, with the occasion being the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Serbia-EU strategic partnership in sustainable raw materials, battery value chains, and electric vehicles, the weekly said. The event was seen by Serbian authorities as a pivotal step towards advancing Rio Tinto’s Jadar project, aimed at boosting the Serbian economy. It added that, however, for many others, it is yet another nail in the coffin of environmentalism, democracy, and rule of law. It remains unclear why the coalition around the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) did not insist on the Jadar project during the December or June election campaigns…
“Because they regularly conduct opinion polls and understand that the project lacks public support. That is why it was paused before the 2022 elections, and since then, authorities have been waiting for the right moment to reintroduce the topic. This doesn’t mean they aren’t consistently communicating with various audiences. The project was allegedly suspended, but then the president himself admitted halting it under pressure. In the Parliament, the People’s Initiative to ban lithium and boron mining, signed by nearly 40,000 people, was kept hidden, yet, in that very Parliament, SNS MPs continued to advocate for the Jadar project as a significant opportunity for Serbia. They were actively influencing public opinion, it was obvious that they hadn’t given up on it,” explained MP and Co-President of the opposition Green-Left Front Biljana Djordjevic in an interview with Radar the day before the Serbian Parliament session addressing the Jadar project.
The ruling coalition is currently spending resources on shifting blame and responsibility instead of wholeheartedly embracing the Jadar project as an initiative that will undoubtedly secure their staying in power, Djordjevic told the weekly.
“They discuss who brought Rio Tinto to Serbia, who signed what, who amended laws and when, what these modifications facilitated, and it’s made to look as if they were presented with a fait accompli and have to respect private property since Rio Tinto had purchased land and the government had nothing to do with that. They are compelled to adhere to the Constitution or the Constitutional Court, which surprisingly ruled the former Regulation halting the Spatial Plan for the Jadar Valley unconstitutional just a week before Scholz’s visit. They are playing a game where they simply have to follow legal processes initiated by someone before them. However, (Serbian Parliament speaker) Ana Brnabic mentioned something to us during a parliamentary session that might not have been publicly stated, at least not in those exact words: let’s make this a joint project of the former and current governments that we will bring to fruition. She also gave us a significant look, even though we have no connection with the former government,” Djordjevic disclosed.
She agrees with the assessments that, after the Kosovo issue, the Jadar project will help the SNS-led coalition secure backing from the Western part of the international community to stay in power. However, she noted that within the European Union, there are potential allies with whom the opposition can find common ground, said the weekly.