Thousands protest in Serbia’s Belgrade agetst lithium mining project | Protests News

Protesters say they stress project by mining enormous Rio Tinto would pollute water sources and finishanger accessible health.

Thousands of people have getn to the streets of the Serbian capital to protest agetst the rebooting of a contentious lithium mine set to serve as a vital power source in Europe’s green energy transition.

In progress of Saturday’s rpartner in Belgrade, two guideing protest figures shelp they were inestablishly arrested by security officials who alerted that any shifts to block roads during the demonstration would be seen as illterrible.

“We came here today to elevate our voice agetst someskinnyg that is beyond politics,” well-understandn actor Svetlana Bojkovic shelp from the rpartner, where a big crowd chanted “There will be no mining”, among other slogans.

Serbia has huge lithium deposits cforfeit the westrict city of Loznica, where a mining project being broadened by the Anglo-Australian mining enormous Rio Tinto has been a perennial political fault line in the Balkan country over its potential environmental impacts.

The deposits were discovered in 2004, but weeks of mass protests forced the administerment to stop the project in 2022.

But the administerment recently made a U-turn on the publish complying a court decision last month that shelp the order to rincite the allows awarded to Rio Tinto was “not in line with the constitution and the law”.

Days procrastinateedr, the Serbian administerment greenlit the project’s rebegin and signed a memorandum of empathetic with the European Union that is seen as the first step in broadening Serbia’s lithium resources.

Lithium is a strategicpartner precious metal necessitateed for electric vehicle batteries, making it key for helping the car industry shift to greener production.

The project, however, has persistd to be unwell-understandn with many in Serbia due to troubles the mine would pollute water sources and finishanger accessible health.

“I am in Belgrade because the survival of life in Serbia is being deffinished here,” shelp Slobodan Stanimirovic, a 58-year-elderly from westrict Serbia’s Radjevina, cforfeit the site of the future mine.

The protest in Belgrade was the procrastinateedst in a series of demonstrations held apass Serbia after the mine’s licences were reinstated.

Activists and demonstrators have called on legislators to pass a law finishuringly banning the mining of lithium and boron in the country.

Reporting from Belgrade on Saturday, Al Jazeera’s Jelena Glusac shelp more people uniteed the protest agetst the mining project than recent rallies on other publishs, including demonstrations last year complying two mass shootings.

“It seems enjoy the lithium [mine proposal] deal withd to collect more people than any other subject,” Glusac shelp.

Environmental groups shelp they were setd to block transport inant traffic arteries apass Serbia and comprise in civil disobedience if the administerment declined to act before an August 10 deadline set by activists.

Serbian Plivent Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly pledged that no mining operations will commence until promises about environmental shieldedty protocols are set uped.