With the message “You will not dig“ protesters in the town of Valjevo, Western Serbia, last night declared against the mining of lithium and other raw materials in the region, Serbian media reported, quoted by BTA.
The protest was organized by groups of citizens from the towns of Valjevo, Loznica and Šabac and the association “We Do Not Give Up Jadar“.
Before the protest march, a rally was held against the plans for the mining of lithium and other raw materials in Serbia.
The aim of the protest was to express the unwillingness of citizens of Western Serbia to allow foreign companies to expose the environment, clean water and fertile soils to the risk of pollution in the name of profit, notes RTS.
Several students arrived on bicycles from Šabac, and mining engineers, hydrologists, professors and students from all over Serbia spoke to the gathered citizens.
Mass protests against lithium mining were organized in Serbia last year, but after the collapse of the concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1 last year, which killed 16 people, public attention changed its focus and the tragedy in the northern Serbian city triggered a wave of protests led by students, with a demand for early parliamentary elections.
At the same time, the “Jadar“ lithium mining project in western Serbia of the multinational mining giant “Rio Tinto“ received a new boost in early June, after the EU included it in its list of strategic new projects for critical raw materials extracted outside the bloc.
The authorities in Serbia, which is a candidate country for EU membership, see the “Jadar“ project as an opportunity for economic development and raising living standards. However, for years this project has faced discontent from citizens, politicians and environmental activists, and the newly acquired status has been met with criticism.
After last night's protest, an incident occurred in front of the headquarters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) in Valjevo. While protesters were putting up signs saying “You will not dig” on the door of the headquarters, masked men from the party premises threw eggs and water bottles at citizens. The crowd returned the thrown objects, and some of them then smashed the windows of the SPP premises, RTS reported.