University Professor: Citizens Realized How Catastrophic Lithium Mining Can Be

Ratko Ristic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Ratko Ristic, the vice-chancellor of the University of Belgrade, said on Aug. 7 that the massive protests in over 30 cities made clear that people had realized how catastrophic the opening of lithium mines would be for the country.

Ristic said in an interview with BETA that lithium mines would pollute the entire ecosystem, threatening wildlife and public health. "People have realized there’s an underlying intent by the government to open a lithium mine in Jadar, and that Vucic (Aleksandar, President of Serbia) is a mere collaborator with Western power centers, simply following orders from abroad. It's incredible how much energy is invested, and how broad the media platform the authorities have been using to support the offensive to open the lithium mine," the professor said for BETA.

The people of Serbia have rebelled for patriotic reasons, he added, "to protect their own fields, rivers, forests, villages, and their way of life." Ristic stated that he expected the protest scheduled to take place in Belgrade, on Aug. 10, to be massive and to demonstrate the people's will, not only qualitatively but also quantitatively.

The professor also said he hoped that under public pressure, the government would enact legislation to ban permanently the exploration and exploitation of lithium in Serbia. "If democracy exists, the people must be obeyed, and the government will have to pass such a law. The Serbian people have the right to express their will in protests, and the government must respect it," Professor Ristic argues.