European lawmaker Hildegaard Bentele believes that Jadar is \u201ccrucial for Serbia, it\u2019s crucial for the EU, it\u2019s crucial for the whole automotive sector.\u201d Bentele, who represents Germany\u2019s Christian Democrats, serves as the European Parliament\u2019s representative on an advisory panel that reviews CRMA strategic projects with the European Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for many in Serbia, the Jadar project now symbolizes the EU\u2019s alignment with a mining giant at the expense of public concerns \u2014 prioritizing Germany\u2019s industrial interests and the bloc\u2019s race to close the EV gap with a dominant China. Meanwhile, popular mistrust has led many locals to believe that only the politicians will benefit. (Serbia’s score is the lowest within the Western Balkans in Transparency International\u2019s Corruption Perceptions Index<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is absolutely no place for lithium mining in a fertile valley, with sources of spring water, groundwater, a valley that feeds people, where farmers have tilled land for seven or eight generations,\u201d said Bojana Novakovi\u0107, leader of environmental NGO Mar\u0161 sa Drine<\/em> (March on the Drina).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If poorly managed, lithium extraction could contaminate groundwater reserves and farmland vital to the Jadar valley\u2019s predominantly agricultural community, green critics contend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neboj\u0161a Petkovi\u0107 from the Ne Damo Jadar <\/em>(We Won\u2019t Surrender Jadar) association, who describes himself as pro-European, believes the EU isn’t interested in Serbia’s becoming a member. He accused the bloc of only caring about its own profits: \u201cThey want to turn us into their resource base and [a] landfill of Europe,\u201d he said, branding the mine a strategic project to \u201cdestroy\u201d Serbia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rio Tinto insists the mine won\u2019t pose the same environmental risks as others, because it will use dry rather than liquid waste storage methods. Mining waste, known as tailings, typically consists of fine rock particles, water, and sometimes chemicals \u2014 raising concerns about potential leaks or dam collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EU is now increasingly pressuring Serbia to align more clearly with its interests. The bells are ringing on resource cronyism, where state and corporate interests converge while the public is shut out of the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI honestly believe it\u2019s political suicide to give this project the time of day and to keep pushing out for any, any kind of political faction within Serbia particularly, but also Europe, because I\u2019ve never seen a project with this much dissent against it,\u201d said Novakovi\u0107 of Mar\u0161 sa Drine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Serbia\u2019s aspiration to join the EU now hangs in the balance of the bloc\u2019s push for raw materials. Mining colony or not, the Western Balkan country faces further chaos amidst its instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n