Organizers of protests against Rio Tinto’s plans to open a lithium mine refused an invitation to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Ne Damo Jadar Association activist Nebojsa Petkovic confirmed that protest organizers from the town of Mali Zvornik in western Serbia would not talk to Vucic. “Local Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) officials will bring their members to meet Vucic,” he told the Beta agency.

Vucic is scheduled to visit Mali Zvornik on Wednesday evening to meet with protest organizers and members of the public.
The protest in Mali Zvornik was staged on August 9 a day before a large protest in Belgrade when protesters blocked the city’s main rail station.