ProGlas: Serbia Boiling with Dissatisfaction, No Major Organization Behind Protests

Non partisan initiative ProGlas (ProVote)Belgrade, April 17 2024 (BETAPHOTO/MEDIA CENTER BELGRADE)

Publisher and ProGlas member Gojko Bozovic said on Aug. 15 that Serbia was boiling with dissatisfaction and that people had recognized that the question of opening a lithium mine in Jadar was not only a social question but primarily an existential one.

"Why has this movement which started in Jadar spread so strongly through all of Serbia," Bozovic said in an interview with the NIN weekly. It is important to say, he said, that there is no major organization behind the protests and that they are basically a spontaneous, autonomous rebellion and opinion polls all show that the vast majority of citizens oppose the project.

"That means that the project cannot be realized in a democratic way. It can only be realized using force, as we have witnessed in the arrests that followed the Belgrade protest. The regime's propaganda campaign in favor of the project is supposed to be a precursor to force. A total campaign is on," Bozovic said.

"It is unusual that the Rio Tinto company's project in Serbia is being defended more by the President of the Republic than official company representatives. Using a campaign, however, you can achieve some objectives, but not exactly everything, you cannot convince people into [accepting] something that they feel differently about in their lives. This campaign, in fact, is only encouraging the citizens' feelings of rebellion," Bozovic said, adding that "citizens will not succumb to the pressure of the campaign, nor will they yield in fear of the regime's repression."