Belgrade, Serbia – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised a preliminary agreement between Serbia and the European Union signed on Friday that paves the way for controversial lithium mining, a megaproject that could reduce Europe’s dependence on lithium. China but one that has been heavily criticized by environmental activists and opposition groups.
Scholz attended a “critical raw materials summit” in the Serbian capital, where a memorandum of understanding was drawn up between the EU and the Serbian government on a “strategic partnership” in the field of sustainable raw materials, battery supply chains and electric vehicles was signed.
He said after the signing ceremony that “this is an important European project,” adding that it is necessary for Europe “to remain sovereign in a changing world and not to be dependent on others. That is why new sources of raw materials must be discovered.”
“I am glad that the decision was made,” he said. “I admit that this decision took courage, but it was made at the right time,” Scholz said.
Germany, Europe’s largest carmaker, is trying to secure lithium for its electric vehicle makers like the European Union struggles to overcome his dependence on import from China. Lithium is a critical substance in the production of batteries for electric vehicles
China currently dominates the lithium-ion battery supply chain.
“This is a good project because it is being developed in an environmentally friendly way and because it creates economic activity and prosperity in places where world history made it possible to bury raw materials in the earth and we are now extracting them,” Scholz said.
Serbia’s Constitutional Court overturned the Court of Justice’s decision earlier this month an earlier statement to cancel a $2.4 billion mining project launched by the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto in the western Serbian Jadar Valley, believed to be the largest lithium discovery in Europe.
The Serbian government decision to cancel The excavation plans came after thousands of protesters in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia in 2021 blocked key roads and bridges in protest against Rio Tinto’s plans over potential environmental hazards. The protests have so far been the biggest challenge to Serbia’s increasingly autocratic rule President Aleksandar Vucic.
A large police presence on Friday prevented groups of protesters from approaching the government building in the New Part of Belgrade, where the signing ceremony took place.
Vucic said lithium mining will only continue if carmakers and battery producers in Germany and other EU countries build factories in Serbia, instead of exporting the raw materials directly to those countries.
“This day fills me with great hope for our country,” Vucic said. “This will be a turning point and a big change and a quantum leap in the future of Serbia.”
Serbia formally seeks EU membership, but has maintained close political and economic ties with China and Russia, despite Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine. The signed agreement is seen by analysts as a major boost to Vucic and his hardline policies.
“I really believe that we are creating a historic opportunity for Serbia and the EU,” said European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, who signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the EU.
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Associated Press journalists Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story.