Serbs protest against lithium mining, other eco problems

Several thousand people in Serbia have attended a protest demanding a ban on planned lithium mining in the Balkan country as well as a resolution to scores of other environmental issues

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Several thousand people protested in Serbia on Saturday demanding a ban on planned lithium mining in the Balkan country as well as a resolution to scores of other environmental issues that made the region one of the most polluted in Europe. The rally in downtown Belgrade was organized by about 30 ecological groups who recently gained popularity in Serbia amid widespread disillusionment with mainstream politicians and amid major pollution problems facing the region. The protesters held banners demanding protection of Serbia’s rivers, nature and air which they say have been endangered by profit-seeking government policies and decades of neglect. The protesters later blocked one of the main bridges in the capital for a while as they announced several other blockades in the rest of the country in the coming months.