Serbia: Activists threaten to block country as Belgrade anti-mine demos continue

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Protesters threatened to block the whole of Serbia if the government does not evict Rio Tinto before Christmas.

The protesters gathered in Belgrade on Saturday for the fourth consecutive weekend, to demand a stop to the Rio Tinto lithium mining project.

“Today we will not walk, and we will not block anything but rest assured that if our basic demand - to evict Rio Tinto from here - is not met, entire Serbia will stop after Christmas,” said activist Aleksandar Jovanovic.

The multinational ‘Rio Tino’, considered the second-largest mining company in the world, has faced accusations of corruption, environmental degradation, and human rights violations.

Despite Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announcing last week that a new law on expropriation, which apparently favoured Rio Tinto, had been withdrawn, ecological and environmentalist organisations continued protesting, demanding that the authorities ban Rio Tinto from Serbia and stop the planned lithium mining project near the Jadar lake in Macva district.

The uproar comes amid months of protests against Rio Tinto’s plans to extract lithium in the fertile Jadar Valley. The metal, used to produce batteries for electric vehicles, is a key resource for the global transition to green energy.

The planned project is also seen as an important source of future employment in Serbia, although many residents have refused to sell their land for the project.

Video ID: 20211218-034

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