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This means that despite celebrations in Brussels, Berlin and Belgrade, protests against lithium mining in rural Serbia are likely to turn serious again.
The EU celebrated the deal with Serbia on lithium mining as a "historic day for both Serbia and Europe", thus ending the race to sign the deal.
On Tuesday, Serbia renewed mining giant Rio Tinto's license to extract the mineral in the Jadar Valley in the west of the country. On Thursday evening, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Belgrade and pleaded for a deal which, in his view, would help protect Europe's economic security.
Scholz wanted to make sure his country's automotive industry was at the front of the queue for supplies. Carmakers will need more and more lithium for batteries as the transition to zero-emission vehicles accelerates, and Rio Tinto's Jadar project could supply up to nine-tenths of Europe's current lithium needs.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic was also in Belgrade on Friday. He was joined by what he described as the "crème de la crème" of European companies with a strong interest in a new source of lithium.
These include Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, which together account for almost a quarter of all car sales in Europe.
Representatives from lithium battery manufacturers also watched as Serbia and the EU signed an agreement to create a strategic partnership for sustainable raw materials, battery production chains and electric vehicles.
While Sefcovic called it a historic day, Olaf Scholz celebrated securing access to the continent's best-known lithium reserves, which should reduce dependence on supplies from China.
" This decision requires courage, but it was taken at the right moment ," he said, adding that the move would ensure that Europe remains sovereign in a changing world and is not dependent on others.
That was praise for Serbia's leaders, who lifted a ban on lithium mining after a court ruling last week declared it unconstitutional. The government imposed the moratorium in 2022 after widespread protests across the country.
Not only environmentalists participated in the demonstrations. Many of those who blocked roads and bridges were young people in protest. All of them were concerned that a foreign company had acquired the mining rights through a process they saw as non-transparent.
And they were concerned about the potential impact on important food and water sources in the Jadar Valley. These concerns have not disappeared, despite assurances from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that the environment will be preserved.
Vucic was also keen to highlight the potential economic benefits. He insisted that the lithium from Jadar would remain in place. Maros Sefcovic said this means Serbia will be the first European country where "the entire value chain from lithium to electric vehicles will be built here in Serbia."
Opposition parties are still not convinced by the president's environmental guarantees. They never believed that the lithium mine would be destroyed forever. Now they are demanding transparency about the revived Rio Tinto project.
" There is a complete lack of trust in the government when it says it is in the interest of the citizens. We fear that Serbia will sacrifice itself to provide lithium for electric vehicles, which almost no one in Serbia can afford ," says Biljana Gjordjevic, co-chair of the Left-Green Movement.
This means that despite celebrations in Brussels, Berlin and Belgrade, protests against lithium mining in rural Serbia are likely to turn serious again.
However, the former rapporteur of the European Parliament for Kosovo, Viola Von Cramon, said that this agreement will favor the power of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and stressed that Serbia lacks democracy.
In her reaction on platform X to the visit of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Belgrade, she said that the EU badly needs lithium, but not in this form.
" It is undeniable that the EU needs lithium and must switch to electronic mobility. I would have liked to see other solutions than this gain in power for Aleksandar Vučić. The rule of law and democracy are foreign words to Vucic. The media is almost completely under his control ," she said./ Adapted "Pamphlet" from "TheGeopost"
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