The European Commission for the first time on March 25 adopted 47 strategic projects of critical raw materials - among which there is no Core. However, the fact that there is no Jadr in the decision on strategic raw materials does not mean that the European Union has given up on lithium from Serbia.
It turns out that the projects adopted by the EC refer only to the member states of the Union, while, as announced by the European Commissioner, projects from third countries will be published "in the coming weeks".
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said in Brussels that in seven or eight days, the European Union will declare the lithium mining project in Serbia Jadar as its strategic project outside the EU countries.
What happened
European Commission (EC) on Tuesday, it adopted projects to strengthen the capacity of strategic critical raw materials, N1 reported, and Fonet and other media outlets, including Vreme, reported.
There was none among them. "Jadar" project, nor any other project from Serbia. The selected projects, published on the EC website, refer to 14 critical raw materials such as lithium, aluminum, magnesium, cobalt, boron and nickel, manganese, graphite and tungsten.
However, it turned out that on March 25, only projects from EU member countries were adopted and that those for non-member countries will only be adopted later.
After a working dinner with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Košta, Vučić commented that "those who were happy today rushed" that the "Jadar" project is not on the list of EU strategic projects.
"Those people are not stupid, they are just malicious and somewhat illiterate and always in a hurry. They don't know that today only projects that are in the EU were mentioned. And in seven or eight days the EU will announce 'Jadar' as its strategic project outside the EU countries. They lied again, they were in a hurry again," said Vučić.
Revolt of environmental activists
The "March from the Drina" organization, with several non-governmental organizations and associations from Romania, Germany, Spain and Portugal, sent a statement that they will challenge the determination of the strategic status of the European Commission.
The disputed strategic projects include large lithium projects such as Jadar in Serbia, Mina do Barroso and Mina do Romano in Portugal and Zinnwald in Germany, as well as Mina Doade and Mina Las Navas in Spain and the Rovina gold-copper project in Romania, they added.
"We are not a playground for the mining mafia. Our lawyers in Europe are completing legal appeals to overturn this decision. Rio Tinto has shown disrespect for the rule of law in Serbia. People in Serbia expected that, by becoming a candidate for the EU, the EU institutions would help strengthen the rule of law, and not support a dictator who gives free passes to destroy the environment in order to fill his own pockets," says Bojana Novaković from March from the Drina.
The extraction of cheap raw materials for the automotive industry in Germany and elsewhere threatens the way of life, said Nelson Gomes of the civic initiative in Covas do Barroso.
"We, who live from sustainable livestock and depend on clean rivers and green pastures, would have only disadvantages. The proposal is far from a just transition - mining in Portugal does not follow the rules and the authorities do nothing," Gomes explains.
In Spain, modern mining has caused so much destruction and pollution, and with it injustice, crime, corruption and suffering, says Joam Evans, from the Iberian Mining Observatory.
"Strategic project status is an attempt to give legitimacy to illegal and destructive projects, while communities are undermined and turned into 'public enemies' of the Commission's materials," adds Evans.
Source: Time/N1
