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Serbia and the European Union sign a strategic partnership for lithium

2024-07-19 20:47:35, Kosova & Bota CNA
Serbia and the European Union sign a strategic partnership for lithium
Source, Reuters

The European Union and Serbia signed an agreement on strategic partnership on Friday in the fields of sustainable raw materials, battery production chains and electric cars.

The agreement followed the decision of the authorities in Serbia to advance the project for the lithium mine, which is expected to fulfill part of the European demand for this product.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who attended the signing ceremony in Belgrade, said that "it is an important European project and also a contribution to ensure that Europe can remain sovereign in a changing world and not be dependent from others".

Chancellor Scholz said that Europe must reduce dependence on others by creating stable structures in supply chains.

"This means we have to develop new sources of raw materials all over the world. But, in the first place, of course, those that exist in our countries where fate, history and geology have allowed them to develop", he said.

Serbian authorities are preparing to give Rio Tinto the green light to develop Europe's largest lithium mine, two years after Belgrade canceled the project.

The company aims to start mining in Serbia's western Jadar region, and this week its license to develop what would be Europe's largest lithium mine was reinstated.

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vu?i? said that it will take some time before the process that will have an impact on the economic growth of his country begins completely.

"Just so you know, this will provide an increase of 0.7 billion euros in Gross Domestic Product from lithium mining and processing. This represents almost 1 percent of the GDP we had in 2023. The mining, processing and production of lithium will account for 2.06 percent of GDP and battery and cathode production will account for 4 percent of GDP. It is a different country, a completely different country, this is not the Serbia we know," he said .

Serbian opposition and environmental groups have said they will begin blocking railways and roads in May in August if the government does not end the project.

In Belgrade, environmental activists protested angrily after the meeting between the German chancellor and the Serbian president in Belgrade. One of the leaders of activists who protested the meeting, Savo Manojlovic, told Reuters on Thursday that the European Union was disregarding the rule of law and democratic principles in favor of securing Serbia's natural resources.

"We made it clear that what the European Union is doing here is the continuation of the concept of 'stableocracy' that some European politicians have been promoting for a long time and which has included encouraging the rise of those small Balkan dictators who implement effective their policies, while violating democratic norms, as the most recent events in the last five years in Europe show," said Mr. Manojlovic.

He said that in addition to the work of legal experts and diplomacy to pursue all possible opportunities to oppose the project, environmental activists will also exercise civil disobedience in their strategy.

In 2022, Belgrade revoked licenses for Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion Jadar project following massive environmental protests.

If realized, the project could meet 90 percent of Europe's current lithium needs and help turn the company into a major lithium producer.

Designated by the European Union and the United States as an essential material, lithium is used to make batteries for electric cars and mobile devices./ VOA





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