Eco-associations: Concern over Rio Tinto's Announcement of New Talks with Serbian Gov't

Rio Tinto's Information Center, Gornje Nedeljice(BETAPHOTO/MILAN TIMOTIC/DS)

Representatives of the Alliance of Ecological Associations of Serbia (SEOS) raised concern in Belgrade on May 11 about the announcement of the Rio Tinto company that it intended to reopen the negotiations with the Serbian government about the Jadar lithium project, and stressed that they would go on fighting against such mining throughout Serbia.

A representative of the We Won't Give Jadar Up association, Zlatko Kokanovic, stated that this also meant that they (Rio Tinto) "have had some agreement with the government," adding that SEOS had suspected that already before, i.e. when the Serbian government cancelled Rio Tinto's licenses just ahead of the election campaign. "We are waiting to see how the Serbian government behaves," he told reporters in front of the Serbian Parliament.

He stated that a sufficient number of signatures had been collected for the launching of a popular initiative for banning the extraction of lithium and boron in Serbia, and that it would be submitted to the next convocation of the parliament.

The president of the Protect Jadar and Radjevina association, Marija Alimpic, stated that the farming and forest land, which the Serbian government has converted into land for development for the purpose of the opening of a lithium mine near Loznica and the construction of required facilities, had been restored to its original purpose, and that the lots that have been purchased by Rio Tinto had been leased to farmers.