“No to Rio Tinto - we want clean air, water”: Protests against lithium mining in Serbia

Chemistry professor Karolina Aleksandrovic told the people assembled at the protest in the town of Arandjelovac that all multinational companies worldwide have only one goal: profit.

She stressed that many governments around the world have initiated legal actions against the Rio Tinto Company, and that, instead of setting boundaries, Serbia is securing permits for the company.

“What is even more absurd in the fact that one third of Serbia’s fertile land is to be dug up for three to five percent mining rent. We are a poor country, but as long as we have these blue skies above us, as long as we breathe air with clean lungs, and look at our vineyards, forests, and meadows, we are happy because we are healthy. Only a healthy person is a happy person. Global polluters like Rio Tinto and other Chinese companies see Serbia as a promised land because institutions here do not exist,” said Aleksandrovic.

Addressing the crowd in Arandjelovac, Faculty of Forestry Professor Ratko Ristic said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic does not have the right to promise Serbian land to “German friends”.

He stressed that the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between Serbia and the European Union is illegal.

“Aleksandar Vucic is not authorized to sign it. Who is he to say that he has promised his German friends that lithium will be mined,” said Ristic, adding: “Who are you to promise our land, our fields, our future just to keep your word to German friends? The Germans come here yet they have ten times more lithium than we do, but they won’t mine it because they want to avoid polluting German soil, water, and putting the health of the German people at risk.”

Nebojsa Kovandzic of the We Won’t Give Ibar Up association told the protest in the city of Kraljevo said the people need to put up a fight.

“In addition to all the institutions, they have also usurped out rivers, our forests…,” said Kovandzic. He added that the government acts solely in its own interests, never in the interest of the citizens, following which the protesters chanted “Thieves, thieves!”

“The traitor is trying to convince us that we must trust the Germans. These are the same people who attacked us in 1914, then again in 1941, and then they bombed us in 1999. Now they are here again, attacking us and making promises. They promise us pits and poison,” said Kovandzic.

Ljiljana Bralovic of the Association of Environmental Organizations of Serbia (SEOS) said at the protest in the town of Lljig that lithium mining and tailings deposits are not a condition for joining the European Union (EU), as the EU does not want a country with dirty technologies, massive pollution, and high corruption.

Commenting on Rio Tinto, she said they have “done harm wherever they have gone.”

Bralovic emphasized that the Serbian government has been given a deadline until August 10 to ban lithium mining, and that if this is not done, radical measures, blockades, and other action will be taken to “free ourselves from foreign corporations.”

Protesters in Barajevo assembled outside the municipal administration building following which they marched to the bus station, carrying banners reading: “People are What is Happening to You!, “I Want Meadows, Forests, Trails, Streams, and Rivers!” “You Won't Mine!”

Marko Popovic of the Eco Barajevo Initiative told Fonet the protest was organized to lend support to the people living in the Jadar Valley.

“We, the citizens of Barajevo, express deep distrust towards the company Rio Tinto, which plans to mine and exploit lithium in our country,” said Popovic, stressing they demand a permanent ban on lithium mining and exploitation in Serbia.

The protest in the city of Sabac drew multiple generations, sending out the message ”No to Rio Tinto, we want clean air and clean water.”

The event concluded with a march through the streets, where citizens demonstrated their opposition to lithium mining.