German official denies EU traded lithium for democracy

Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Action at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action told Belgrade daily Danas that the agreement with the EU allowing the mining of lithium would not speed up Serbia’s path to the Union, adding that it has no bearing on the accession process.

Brantner was part of the delegation headed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Belgrade on July 19 when an EU-Serbia memorandum was signed covering strategic raw materials. She met with the Serbian opposition and civil society organizations that oppose the Rio Tinto project to mine lithium in western Serbia.

She said Serbia would decide on its own about the project which would be implemented by Rio Tinto or possibly other companies.

According to her, there was no trade off with Serbia of lithium for rule of law. She believes that the project could be an opportunity for Serbia allowing it to create new local industries in an environmentally acceptable manner.

Brantner confirmed that contracts had been signed between Serbian companies, Rio Tinto, Mercedes and Stellantis. She added that several German companies are competing to mine lithium.