Famous Serb actors support protests against Rio Tinto mine in western Serbia

They visited the village on Sunday and talked to people who had been warning about a potential environmental and health catastrophe if the Anglo-Australian company started mining lithium in their neighbourhood.

"This is not a story between Rio Tinto and us. It's a question between the state and Rio Tinto because the state should protect us. Whether we will fight Rio Tinto is a question for the state. We have told the state that there is a problem, a huge problem. We have not signed contracts with anyone. And the state must stand behind us," actress Anita Mancic, told N1 talk show 360 Degrees.

Her colleagues Tihomir Stanic and Bojana Dimitrijevic also showed solidarity with the citizens of Jadra Valley who opposed the lithium mine in their area. The actors said that "no one should force the locals out of their homes" and that "there is no money that can buy or scare them".

Stanic recalled how happy he was in 2006 when the news was originally published that jadarite ore had been found, hoping for the prosperity of that part of Serbia.
"In the beginning, it looked like a fairy tale because no one knew anything about the harmful consequences and what danger there was. That's what people told me, and I saw that we were all mistaken… That's why they keep us uninformed. The Government always tries to keep people in the dark with reality shows. What is moving is that people have organised themselves, agreed on what to do, and are on the way to preventing that catastrophe," Stanic said.

Environmentalists across Serbia organised mass protests over the last two weekends against the two controversial laws they said were tailored to suit Rio Tinto and its Jadar project.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic went to Gornje Nedeljice last Saturday during the roadblocks and promised those villagers who accepted to talk to him the state would do everything to help them.

He said he didn't yield to the protesters but met the people's demands and added he would ask the Government to withdraw the Law on Expropriation and amend the Law on Referendum to satisfy the requests made by the villagers and environmentalists.

The Government said it would discuss the suggestions on Friday. The main environmentalists said they would not organise a new protest on Saturday but invited people to celebrate what they described as a victory.

Mancic said that "one needs to go there and see. When you realise on the ground what will happen to that place with Rio Tinto's tailings and everything that goes with that mine move there... I had the impression that it is destroying nature itself, not to mention the people who live there. That is my strongest impression. Also, everything that happens with purchasing their land is something I saw in the movies. And I had the impression that I was in a film."

Twenty actors and actresses who visited Gornje Nedeljice made a short film about the visit and their tour of the potential mine site guided by members of 'Ne Damo Jadar' (We don't Give Jadar) NGO.