Less than 50 kilometers separate Serbia's Jadar Valley from Bosnia's Majevica mountain. These two regions are connected by two things - lithium deposits and the fear of industrial destruction.
In both countries, mining companies have already tried to get their hands on lithium, while civil movements are opposing them.
Why are so many activists against lithium?
Lithium is one of the most sought-after metals in the world and is often called "white gold" because of its key importance for renewable energy, which uses lithium batteries. But as important as lithium is to the energy transition, activists warn that mining it can destroy ecosystems and harm human health.
One reason for this is that it requires the use of chemicals like sulfuric acid, which can contaminate soil, water, and air. In 2021, Serbian scientists found that exploratory drilling in Serbia had already contaminated the soil. They warned that toxins carried by groundwater and surface water could cross national borders.
Serbia’s resistance is getting results
In Serbia, the campaign against lithium mining began in September 2019, when local politician Dragan Karadzic learned about plans to mine the precious metal at a municipal council meeting. The hastily convened citizens' meeting attracted 300 people and launched the resistance to lithium mining.
The campaign quickly spread to 22 villages in the region known as the breadbasket of Serbia due to its huge agricultural yields. A number of groups joined the campaign. Most members of the "We Will Not Surrender, Jadar" movement are from the agricultural village of Gornje Nedelice in Serbia.
They spent five years analyzing environmental reports, researching permits, mapping land earmarked for lithium mining, and monitoring people they considered suspicious visitors from other towns to their village. Another group called "March from the Drina River" argued that lithium mining "would destroy thriving villages, destroy farmland cultivated for generations, and threaten areas rich in cultural heritage and protected wildlife." "We had meetings with the company [Rio Tinto]," says Zlatko Kokanovic of "We Won't Give Up, Jadar." "When we pressed them, they just shrugged their shoulders. They said they would do everything they could to meet the standards."
What started as local resistance soon reached the capital, Belgrade. The Serbian Academy of Sciences published a report concluding that lithium mines would harm the environment. Popular figures in the country began to comment on the issue, which reached the parliament in Belgrade in October 2024. In 2022, activists from the UK, Argentina, Spain, Chile, Portugal and Germany gathered in Serbia to speak out against lithium mining in the country.
This grassroots struggle yielded results: it led not only to the birth of a pan-European movement against lithium mining, but also to a temporary halt to mining in Serbia. The Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto did not invest in more land, and its infrastructure projects were at a standstill. However, this does not mean that the mining company or the Serbian government have given up.
Bosnia is also fighting against lithium mining
And on the other side of the border - in Bosnia and Herzegovina, activists are fighting foreign companies that want to mine lithium, but so far they have not announced exactly what their plans are.
The activists in Bosnia are working together with their Serbian colleagues. "We have been exchanging information with colleagues from Serbia for years and learning from their example," says Tihomir Dakić of the Center for the Environment. "Now we are in the same meetings and together we are advocating for environmental protection, even in cities as far away as Berlin and Brussels."
Many in Bosnia fear that the fertile farmlands of the Semberija and Posavina regions and ecosystems such as the Drina could suffer. The Majevica plant will be located just 13 kilometers from the central Bosnian city of Tuzla, making it the first lithium mine in the world located in close proximity to an urban center.
The activists fighting the plans come from all ethnic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They say the cause has erased any divisions that have plagued the region for years. Even religious institutions are joining the fight against lithium mining - for example, the Serbian Orthodox priest from Bosnia, Fotje Sladojevic.
Activists on both sides of the border are united
However, civil society in both Serbia and Bosnia faces formidable obstacles that aim to marginalize local voices. In 2022, Republika Srpska, the Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, passed a law on geological exploration that stripped local communities of their power to make decisions on such matters. Activists argue that this change in legislation has paved the way for foreign companies to obtain concessions without proper oversight.
The success of activists in Serbia has given impetus to their Bosnian counterparts. However, the question remains whether this momentum will be short-lived, as development on both sides of the Drina River depends largely on the political situation in both countries. However, their movement has already crossed the border and is united in its fight for the cause.
Authors: Sanja Kljajić | Dragan Maksimović