No lithium mining without guarantees, says Serbian President

The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said on Thursday that there will be no lithium mining in the country until guarantees are received from the world’s best experts.

Addressing the nation, Vučić stated that there would be no changes in the field or in mining lithium until Serbia receives guarantees from the best domestic and foreign experts, the Sarajevo Times reported.

Last month, Serbia, the European Union and Germany signed a series of agreements granting EU members and some of the continent’s most important carmakers exclusive access to Serbian lithium.

The agreements, covering sustainable raw materials and battery supply chains, came only a week after Serbia’s top court ruled that Belgrade’s decision to revoke Rio Tinto’s licence for the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in 2022 was unconstitutional.

“There will be no digging, no changes in the field, nor will there be. Until we get all the guarantees ourselves, nothing will happen in the next 12 to 18 months,” Vučić said.

“They deceive you every day. They lie to you every day. We have to collect all the documentation, and we will invite the best experts from abroad, but we will also take the best Serbian experts in environmental protection, those who can guarantee that all people will be absolutely safe,” he added.

Thousands took to the streets across Serbia on Monday to protest against the project and the recently signed agreement with the European Union.

Protests were held simultaneously in towns like Šabac, Kraljevo, Aranđelovac, Ljig and Barajevo.

If completed, the Jadar project would be Europe’s biggest lithium mine, with a production of 58,000 tonnes of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate per year, enough to power one million electric vehicles and supply 90% of the continent’s current lithium needs.

Jadar would also propel Rio Tinto onto the world’s top 10 lithium producers’ list.