Protesters state they worry task by mining giant Rio Tinto would contaminate water sources and threaten public health.
Published On 10 Aug 2024
Thousands of individuals haveactually taken to the streets of the Serbian capital to demonstration versus the restarting of a questionable lithium mine set to serve as a essential power source in Europe’s green energy shift.
In advance of Saturday’s rally in Belgrade, 2 leading demonstration figures stated they were briefly apprehended by security authorities who alerted that any moves to block roadways throughout the presentation would be seen as prohibited.
“We came here today to raise our voice versus something that is beyond politics,” popular star Svetlana Bojkovic stated from the rally, where a big crowd shouted “There will be no mining”, amongst other mottos.
Serbia has large lithium deposits near the western city of Loznica, where a mining task being established by the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto hasactually been a seasonal political fault line in the Balkan nation over its prospective ecological effects.
The deposits were found in 2004, however weeks of mass demonstrations required the federalgovernment to stop the job in 2022.
But the federalgovernment justrecently made a U-turn on the concern following a court choice last month that stated the order to withdraw the allows granted to Rio Tinto was “not in line with the constitution and the law”.
Days lateron, the Serbian federalgovernment greenlit the job’s reboot and signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union that is seen as the veryfirst action in establishing Serbia’s lithium resources.
Lithium is a tactically important metal required for electrical lorry batteries, making it secret for assisting the automobile market shift to greener production.
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