Environmental organizations write to EU over Jadar project

The letter has been addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, EIB President Nadia Calvino and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.

The Association said it sent the letter due to Vice-President Sefcovic’s “sudden hurry” to finalize a “controversial agreement on the trade of critical raw materials between the EU and Serbia” at the end of the Commission's term.

Despite its seeming generality, this document obviously aims to assist political and business lobbies trying to revive the Jadar lithium project that hundreds of thousands of Serbian citizens have decisively rejected through petitions and street demonstrations, following which the Serbian Government reluctantly abandoned it in January 2022, said SEOS.

The letter questions whether the initiation of the agreement is in any way connected to the plans of the Slovak lithium battery company InoBat in Serbia.

It says that this company officially sought 419 million euros in subsidies from the Serbian Government in 2023.

The Association asked if Sefcovic can assure everyone that he has never had, nor will have, business dealings with InoBat or any other stakeholders in the canceled Jadar project, which he is making much effort to resurrect at the end of his term in office.

It also asked if Von der Leyen can confirm that Serbia’s European future will not be made conditional upon the mining project that the people of Serbia have rejected.

Rest assured that we remain fully committed to preventing the Jadar lithium project from ever being implemented. If needed, and as we did in 2022, mass demonstrations and civil disobedience will be organized, emphasized SEOS.