Zlatko Kokanovic doesn't want a lithium mine in his backyard and will do everything he can to prevent it from opening.
“All of us here are ready to give our lives,” the 48-year-old farmer told the Associated Press news agency. “They can shoot. This is the only way they can open the mine.”
At stake is a lush agricultural valley in western Serbia, with Europe's richest reserves of lithium, a precious metal used to make batteries for electric cars and essential to the transition to green energy.
Whether or not there should be a mine in the valley has become one of the most controversial issues in the Balkan nation, prompting protests by thousands in a challenge to populist President Aleksandar Vucic.
While the government insists the mine is an opportunity for economic development, critics say it would cause irreparable pollution in the Jadar valley, along with groundwater reserves, agricultural land and two small rivers that run through the valley.
Thousands of people are expected to attend a rally announced for Saturday in Belgrade, demanding a law to ban lithium mining anywhere in Serbia.
Zlatko Kokanovic will be there with the group “Ne Damo Jadar”, or “We don't give Jadar”.
“We are not interested in their benefits. We grew up on this land and we will die on this land,” said Kokanovic, who has five children. “This land is not the property of anyone else, it belongs to our children.”
Exploration of lithium and boron reserves in the Jadar valley has been carried out by the multinational mining company Rio Tinto for 20 years. The company has drawn up plans to open a mine.
Throughout its 150-year history, the Rio Tinto company has faced accusations of corruption, environmental damage and human rights violations at mining sites, a story that has alarmed residents in Jadar and environmental groups in Serbia.
Mass protests in 2021 and 2022 forced the Serbian government to temporarily suspend the plan to open the mine, only to revive it in July this year before signing a strategic partnership agreement in the field of raw materials with the European Union. , in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Dubravka Gjedovic Handanovic, Serbia's Minister of Mines and Energy, told the Associated Press agency in an interview that the Jadar valley contains about 158 million tons of lithium, or about 17 percent of the total reserves of the European continent.
Jadari, she said, is “one of the best explored lithium sites in Europe and probably one of the best in the world” and could “establish Serbia as the best site not only in Europe but also worldwide the world” when it comes to fighting climate change.
Minister Gedovic Handanovic's signature is on the agreement with the EU that envisages a “strategic partnership” on sustainable raw materials, battery production chains and electric cars. The plan is not only to export raw materials, but also to promote the development of new technologies in Serbia.
Any possible excavation will meet the EU's highest standards, Minister Handanovic said, promising that “we will not do anything that will have a negative impact”.
“In that case the project will not be developed,” she said, complaining about what she called “misinformation” that has been spread about the project. In response, the government has set up a call center and a medical team to watch for any potential health risks, she said.
While it could bring Serbia closer to the EU and help reduce the bloc's dependence on China for lithium, critics argue that the risks of lithium mining outweigh the benefits.
Serbia is a candidate country for EU membership, but also maintains close ties with Moscow and Beijing. China owns the largest copper mine in eastern Serbia.
Dragana Gjorgjevic, a professor at the University of Belgrade and an expert in environmental chemistry, is among a group of Serbian researchers who discovered in a study that the soil in the Jadar valley had already been damaged during research.
Jadari, Ms. Gjorgjevic said, is an agricultural area with groundwater and rivers that often flood and can carry any toxic material. The mine is “a huge risk for the whole region”, she said.
Rio Tinto has said it will open the mine in compliance with EU safety standards. In a brief emailed response to the Associated Press news agency, the company's Serbian branch said it “prioritises evidence-based public dialogue” and cited a separate environmental study project that calls for interested parties to submit their comments.
Officials say the mine will not open before 2028. Serbian President Vucic has described the current anti-lithium protests as political, organized by foreign powers and directed against him and the Serbian government.
The mine will cover about 200 hectares of the valley, which is filled with fields planted with corn and soybeans.
Vladan Jakovljevic, who is in his 60s, lives in the village of Stupnica, in the hills overlooking the valley. He too will not give up his way of life, beehives and a healthy environment for his family.
If the mine opens, he says, “there will be no life for us.”
