After a stormy summer marked by a wave protest across Serbia against lithium mining, it seems that there won't be an autumn either no less turbulent. A new protest against lithium mining is scheduled for October 16 in Loznica, the activist of the association "Ne damo Jadar" Zlatko Kokanović announced on Friday at a press conference in front of the National Assembly.
"We invite citizens to come to Loznica for a protest on Wednesday, October 16, at 17 p.m. From Saturday, we invite everyone to start a blockade in their place. Blockades are planned, first for one hour, then in the following period we will increase the time, depending on whether the government will listen to our demands or not," said Kokanović.
In addition to the protest in Loznica and possible blockades in cities across Serbia, a protest in Berlin has also been announced, Krunoslav Stojaković, the organizer of that rally, told N1.
"The protest will be held on October 15 at 17 pm in front of a building called the Futurium next to the main train station in Berlin. In that building, the German Association of Industrialists is holding a congress on the topic of 'Ecological development of industry'. It is an opportunity for us to point out the contradiction in the attitudes of the German industry, which advocates for an ecologically sustainable method of production on domestic soil, and at the same time, for the exploitation of lithium, with all the consequences that it brings abroad, in this case in Serbia". Stojakovic said.
Misbehavior in the assembly
The announcement of the new actions was preceded by a debate on the bill on the permanent ban on exploration and mining of lithium and boron in the National Assembly.
After several days of heated discussion, the ruling coalition, as expected, rejected the bill proposed by the opposition. With 128 votes "against", the bill did not pass. This practically means that Rio Tinto has officially been given the green light to continue the project in the Jadra Valley.
Even though the debate was fruitless, the record will preserve the inappropriate behavior of members of parliament, first of all - the President of the National Assembly, Ana Brnabić. She snatched the sign "You won't dig" from the hand of the representative of the Ecological Uprising, Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, and crumpled it with the words "Mrš bre u...", while the rest of the curse could be read from the lips of the speaker of the parliament.
Exhausted institutional measures
Due to the rejection of the law in the assembly, Kokanović pointed out that all institutional ways of fighting for Jadar have been exhausted, and that the question is open for whose interest the president of the assembly, Ana Brnabić, and the minister of mining, energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović are working for.
The representative of the same association, Nebojša Petković, stated that the protest is scheduled for Wednesday, because the Assembly of Loznica should be in session on Thursday and that the spatial plan for the "Jadar" project will be on the agenda.
From the protest on Wednesday, he added, plans will be announced for all further blockades.
The representative of the Association of Environmental Organizations of Serbia (SEOS) Ljiljana Bralović said that the environmental associations did not expect that the law would be adopted, but that the purpose was for information about the "Jadar" project to reach citizens.
"For three days, government representatives desperately defended the interests of a foreign company and tried to convince us that ecological mining exists," Bralović said.
She added that the fact that the law was not adopted does not mean that anything is lost, and that the struggle will continue with protests and blockades, as was the case several years ago, because "the company will not give up, and neither will those who are corrupt." and underpaid".
At the press conference in front of the Assembly of Serbia, MPs from most of the opposition parties were also present, including the Green-Left Front, the Democratic Party, the Ecological Uprising, the New Democratic Party of Serbia, the People's Movement of Serbia, Serbia Center, the New Face of Serbia, as well as the non-parliamentary the Door party.
Lazović: No comment
Although the opposition did not play a major role in the organization of the protests during the summer, environmental activists largely took matters into their own hands, opposition politicians repeatedly emphasized their support for the fight against the suspension of the "Jadar" project.
To Vremen's question, what will be the role of the opposition in the next actions against the "Jadar" project, the co-president of the Green-Left Front and MP Radomir Lazović answered briefly: "I would not comment on anything until we reach an agreement." At the conference, the Association of Environmental Organizations of Serbia presented some ideas that we will discuss".
