Thousands of demonstrators blocked Serbia’s main roads on Saturday after a government-backed plan to allow mining companies to implement it sparked outrage. Rio Tinto Extract lithium.
In the capital Belgrade, protesters flooded into a major highway and bridge connecting the city with outlying suburbs. Crowds chanted anti-government slogans, while some held slogans criticizing mining projects.
According to local media reports, smaller protests were held in other cities in Serbia, and small-scale scuffles occurred between demonstrators and counter-protesters in Belgrade and the northern city of Novi Sad.
“They allow foreign companies to do whatever they want on our land. They put us on a plate and everyone can come and take whatever they want,” 56-year-old economist Vladislava Kovo Vladislava Cvoric said during the protest.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic shared a photo of the protest on Instagram and commented that “clean air, water and food are the keys to health”.
“Without this, every word about’health’ is out of date,” Djokovic said.
The protests followed similar demonstrations last week, during which masked men attacked a rally in Sabac in western Serbia — sparking outrage on social media and accusing the government of using hooligans to suppress the movement.
A large number of lithium mines, a key component of electric vehicle batteries, were discovered near the western town of Loznica. Anglo-Australian company is buying land But still waiting for the state’s final green light to start mining.
Rio Tinto discovered lithium reserves in the Loznica area in 2006.
Vesna Prodanovic, director of Rio Sava’s sister company in Serbia, said the company intends to invest US$2.4 billion (€2.12 billion) in the project.
Critics accuse President Aleksandar Vučić’s government of laying the groundwork for illegal land acquisition and ignoring environmental issues.
The demonstration took place a few months before the possible national election in 2022. Critics of the protest accused the organizers of inciting controversy before voting to weaken Vucic.
