Geoffrey Pyatt, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources at the U.S. Department of State, posted yesterday on X a supportive statement regarding the planned lithium mining project in Serbia. European Union Delegation to Serbia also posted on the same social network, supporting the recently established EU-Serbia partnership in critical raw materials.
In his post, Assistant Secretary of State Pyatt wrote that “Serbia’s Jadar lithium project is an opportunity to contribute to the green transition at home and abroad”.
“It would grow Serbia‘s economy and make it a leader in Europe’s renewable energy sector. This can be done in a way that meets the highest environmental standards and protects Serbia’s natural resources”, Pyatt wrote.
EU Delegation to Serbia, meanwhile, released a post in Serbian, quoting the post of European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Serbia on 19 July in Belgrade.
In the post, the EU Delegation wrote that the goal of the EU-Serbia partnership is “to promote the development of new local industries and high-quality jobs along the electric vehicle value chains, with full respect to the high environmental and social standards and respect for the concerns of local communities with full transparency”.
The posts were released days after a mass protest against lithium mining in Belgrade. It was a part of the wave of highly attended protests, organised by environmental associations, which took place in dozens of cities and towns across the country since the signing of the EU-Serbia Memorandum on 19 July.
President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić announced that he would hold a series of meetings with the local population in Western Serbia, where the mine is planned to be opened, with the aim of listening to their concerns and reassuring them that the project would be safe. He will hold the first such meeting today./EWB
