EU Labels Lithium Mine in Serbia a Strategic Project
Despite Strong Local Opposition and Environmental Concerns
Despite widespread opposition in Serbia, the European Commission has included a lithium and boron mining project by multinational corporation Rio Tinto on its list of strategic projects located outside the European Union. Alongside 12 other proposals in locations such as Ukraine, Greenland, Zambia, Brazil, and Madagascar, Rio Tinto’s Jadar project is supposed to help the EU become more self-sufficient in extracting and processing materials deemed essential for its so-called green transition.
The announcement has been met with outrage by residents of the Jadar Valley and activists across Serbia, who have spent years mobilizing to block the project. “The European Commission has backed this project despite the opposition of the people, who have been resisting it for five years, as its realization poses significant risks to water supplies, the environment, and the economy,” the campaign Pravo na vodu (Right to Water) wrote on social media.
Europe’s double standards
Environmental concerns are central to the resistance against Rio Tinto in Serbia. Studies examining the impact of the company’s exploration activities in the region have raised alarms, while its vague promises to uphold environmental and social standards have been met with deep skepticism. “Research drilling by the mining company has already produced environmental damage, with mine water containing high levels of boron leaking from exploratory wells and causing crops to dry out,” warned a 2024 study. “With the opening of the mine, problems will be multiplied by the tailings pond, mine wastewater, noise, air pollution, and light pollution, endangering the lives of numerous local communities and destroying their freshwater sources, agricultural land, livestock, and assets.”
While Rio Tinto has pitched the project’s inclusion on the EU’s strategic list as a guarantee of safety, few are convinced. Activists argue that this designation means the EU will assist the company in securing additional funds and support, without imposing monitoring of safety or environmental impact. This fear reflects a pattern seen in previous EU interventions. For example, Germany, whose former administration was deeply engaged in negotiations with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on the matter, had pushed lithium extraction to support its own struggling automotive industry. Yet it admitted that “compliance with legal regulations is the responsibility of the Government of Serbia and competent institutions,” distancing itself from any responsibility—despite being presented earlier as a guarantor of high standards.
In fact, statements by German officials have been particularly controversial. Former State Secretary Franziska Brantner—from the Green Party, no less—said there would be no lithium mining in Germany until environmental safeguards evolve, while simultaneously endorsing extraction projects in other countries, including Serbia. Such blatant double standards have prompted members of the progressive party Die Linke to demand explanations from Olaf Scholz’s administration regarding its support for the Jadar project and Rio Tinto, a company long criticized for human rights abuses. When asked whether the German government was aware of Rio Tinto’s history of violations, the former cabinet replied: “Due to lack of time, the Federal Government is unable to verify whether there have been violations of human and environmental rights on projects outside Germany in the last 20 years by Rio Tinto.”
“There will be no mining,” activists say
That both the EU and Germany continue to support the project despite widespread concerns and opposition—from over 60% of the Serbian public, according to recent reports—is evidence to some, that Serbia is being treated as a potential colony. “It’s very hypocritical coming from a Europe that claims to promote the rule of law, democracy, freedom of speech, a healthy environment and clean air, water, and soil,” said activist Zlatko Kokanović of the local initiative Ne damo Jadar (We Won’t Give Up Jadar). “To the detriment of our health and our children’s, they want to take our lithium and turn us into a waste dump so they can live healthy.”
In response to the project’s inclusion on the EU’s list, grassroots groups and activists have reiterated their opposition, declaring that there will be no mining and vowing to continue resisting Rio Tinto’s operations by any means necessary.
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