Discovery of the Serbian ‚Jadarite‘

Serbia’s current importance in overcoming the EU’s reliance on non-European lithium-exporting countries, most importantly Chile, began to take shape twenty years earlier. During the 1990s, geologists from Belgrade’s Faculty of Mining and Geology conducted several studies on mineral composition at the Jadar River Valley in Western Serbia. At the turn of the millennium, the faculty forged relations with foreign investors interested in mining exploration, namely the British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto. Serbia’s subsidiary of Rio Tinto was established in 2001, with Nenad Grubin, a former research assistant at the faculty, becoming its first director. In 2004, a team of four geologists, including Grubin, finally discovered a mineral consisting of borates and lithium, nicknamed Jadarite. 

Both boron, which is found in nature in the form of borates, and lithium are recognised as crucial for the EU’s green transition under the European Critical Raw Materials Act. While lithium is needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles crucial for the EU’s decarbonisation, boron is used in wind turbines, which have become an important source of clean energy. Jadarite, therefore, represents a unique combination of critical raw materials, rarely found in nature in great amounts. Rio Tinto estimates that Serbia’s mines could produce 58,000 tons of lithium annually, which should suffice for 1,1 million electric vehicles. In other words, Serbia is predicted to become one of the world’s top ten countries producing lithium, which could significantly help the EU reach its targets for domestic mining capacities. 

Mass protests against mining in 2021

At this time, the local activist groups from Western Serbia that were fighting against lithium mining captured the attention of a wider public in the country. In their understanding, lithium mining posed a major ecological threat to the area. They argued that chemicals needed to extract lithium, such as sulphuric acid, might contaminate rivers and land in an inhabited area. 

The first wave of mass protests in November 2021 called against adopting the proposed amendments to the laws for fear of their misuse. More protests ensued, with protesters blocking off the roads and bridges in an attempt to mobilise people against the lithium mining project. The activists were quick to frame the issue in a transnational manner, thus gaining support from a global network of environmental activists. Representatives of the environmental organisations from Chile, Spain, Portugal, and Germany supported their Serbian counterparts.

The government initially refused to give in to the demands of protesters, who were pushed back by law enforcement. Prime Minister Brnabić accused them of being funded by foreign organisations, while the former Minister of Mining and Energy, Zorana Mihajlović, called activists‘ environmental concerns false. Throughout the series of mass protests, the government maintained its line of argumentation, claiming that the project would greatly benefit the country thanks to the planned foreign direct investments.

Notwithstanding the governmental attempts to delegitimize protesters’ demands, the mobilization campaign against mining alarmed enough Serbians, so the government was forced to withdraw the amendments to the Law on Expropriation and the Law on Referendum and People’s Initiative in December 2021 and revoke the Spatial plan in January 2022. 

Current Protests 

On 11 July 2024, the Constitutional Court of Serbia ruled that the previous governmental revocation of the spatial plan for mining had been unconstitutional. In a matter of a few days leading up to the signing of the memorandum between Serbia and the EU, Serbian authorities further adjusted the legal framework to allow for the revival of the mining project. After the memorandum had been ceremonially signed during the Serbian Critical Raw Materials Summit on 17 July 2024, environmental groups that organised protests in late 2021 mobilised again.

From the single-issue local activist groups such as Ne Damo Jadar, Marš sa Drine, Zaštitimo Jadar i Rađevinu to the ecological groups that work on a national level and have a wider agenda, such as the aforementioned Kreni-Promeni, they all quickly mobilised their structures during the summer. Local protests in cities near Jadar Valley and gatherings in Belgrade have become routine in the country over the summer of 2024. 

Conclusion

In June 2024, Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, stated that the mine would become operational in 2028 at the earliest. Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedovič Handanović, announced in August 2024 that the licensing process for the Jadar Project can take up to two years, she added that the speed of the process is presently in the hands of the government. Given the intense support for the Jadar Project from the Serbian government and the EU, it is hard to imagine how the project can be stopped. With the next parliamentary elections scheduled for 2027, the mine construction might be in full swing by the time the opposition has a chance to intervene. 

As the struggle against mining becomes framed as a struggle for Serbian sovereignty, more people are swayed toward Euroscepticism in an already heavily Eurosceptic country. The issue has impacted the image of the EU, even among the country’s pro-Western population. It is unclear how this will change Serbia’s accession process to the EU in the long run. With their eyes set on the ultimate prize, the money from the Jadarite, Vučić’s government might become even tougher on the environmental groups in the upcoming years. The EU must ensure the activists are treated with respect to their right to protest.