Thousands protest in Serbia’s Belgrade against lithium mining project
Al Jazeera
Protesters say they fear project by mining giant Rio Tinto would pollute water sources and endanger public health.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Serbian capital to protest against the rebooting of a controversial lithium mine set to serve as a vital power source in Europe’s green energy transition.
In advance of Saturday’s rally in Belgrade, two leading protest figures said they were briefly detained by security officials who warned that any moves to block roads during the demonstration would be seen as illegal.
“We came here today to raise our voice against something that is beyond politics,” popular actor Svetlana Bojkovic said from the rally, where a large crowd chanted “There will be no mining”, among other slogans.
Serbia has vast lithium deposits near the western city of Loznica, where a mining project being developed by the Anglo-Australian mining giant 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 government to halt the project in 2022.
