A true “paradise” for extracting lithium. Serbia is a land rich in this precious mineral and has just signed an important agreement with the European Union for its extraction. The project, which has been the subject of bitter protests in the Balkan country, serves to ensure the European automotive industry an indispensable resource for the transition from combustion engines to electric ones. The participation in these agreements of representatives of both German politics and industry makes it clear that powerful German companies have moved early to grab a significant part of this resource.
The interest of German industry
The partnership on “critical materials” between the European Union and Serbia was signed in Belgrade, in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The signature comes just a week after a Serbian court ruling paved the way for the resumption of a controversial lithium mining project. The presence of the Social Democrat leader is linked to the strong interest of the German car industry in this metal, which is essential for the production of batteries for electric cars. With combustion vehicles to be banned from sale in the EU from 2035, it is essential for companies in the sector to procure this material in order to reduce their massive dependence on Chinese producers, which dominate the battery market.
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The “memorandum of understanding on raw materials and supply chain for batteries and electric vehicles” will be signed at a “critical materials summit,” the office of European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic announced. The European executive’s goal is to ensure that this raw material “remains on European soil,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the press. The German Chancellor will be accompanied at the summit “by representatives of Mercedes-Benz,” and by representatives of several European banks, Vucic revealed.
Environmentalists protest against mining
Lithium reserves, among the largest in Europe, were discovered in 2004 in western Serbia, in the Jadar region. According to the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, which operates the project, they could produce 58 thousand tons of lithium carbonate per year. This figure would allow to power about 1.1 million vehicles, or 17% of the European production of electric vehicles. The project of the future mine has fueled numerous political controversies.
Opponents argue that it will have a major impact on the environment in a predominantly agricultural region. The resulting protests have put pressure on the Serbian government, which decided to suspend the project in 2022. Two years later, on July 11, the Constitutional Court ruled that the decision taken by the Serbian government was “not in line with the Constitution.” Last week, the government announced it would implement the court’s ruling, authorizing the resumption of operations.
The political background of EU accession
Serbia is one of the Balkan countries that has been in the process of joining the European Union for years, although some of Vucic’s pro-Russian positions and the disputes over the territories of Northern Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina have so far slowed down the completion of the EU enlargement process. The signing of the agreement should be read in the light of the desire to align with Brussels’ requests and accelerate a decade-long accession process.
Vucic recently said that operations could start around 2028, provided that guarantees on environmental protection are obtained. He also announced the signing of a “letter of intent” that provides for the installation of industrial capacities in Serbia, assuring that Belgrade will not allow the export of more than “12-13%” of this valuable raw material. The rest could be exported “in the form of cathodes or batteries produced in Serbia,” he added.
