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12 July, 2025
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  • OP/ED

    Azerbaijan dismisses claims of involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

    Elite Purges: Internal Conflict or External Design?

    Trump’s Threat of U.S. Intervention in Iran Exposes Roots of Critics’ Fears

    Crisis-Born, Purpose-Seeking: Can the EPC Define Europe’s Strategic Future?

    Serbia’s Request to the ICJ Turned Resolution 1244 into a Closed Chapter and Kosovo’s Independence into an Internationally Recognized Reality

    Unpredictable world

    Promoting Arab Culture and Language in the Framework of Cultural Diversity and Dialogue.

    ‘A Tragic Circus’: Albanian PD Figures Lash Out After LaCivita-Backed Campaign Collapses

    Erosion of Liberal Democracy in Europe Complicates Canada’s Search for Like-Minded Allies

  • Interview

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    The Conclusion of the Diplomatic Mission / Ambassador Dancho Markovski: Strengthening Albania-North Macedonia Relations for a Shared European Future

    A Century of Diplomatic Relations Between Albania and Russia: Exclusive Interview with the Russian Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Alexey Zaytsev

    Exclusive/ The chairman of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta: “The will of the citizens will triumph in Albania, as it did in North Macedonia”

    Exclusive/ The Russian Ambassador to Albania Mr. Mikhail Afanasiev: Russia only aims to end that war started by the West in Ukraine

    Exclusive/ Skopje’s top diplomat to Tirana, Dancho Markovski: OSCE Chairmanship a Project of National Importance for North Macedonia

    Exclusive interview of Croatian Ambassador Zlatko Kramaric: ‘There is progress in Croatian-Albanian relations, but it is still not enough’  

    The first anniversary of the appointment as Archbishop at the head of the Catholic Church/ Mons. Arjan Dodaj: Only God can be the author of our walk!

  • Realpolitik

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    Chancellor Merz passed “the exam”! Political stupidity! 5 per cent or study Russian! The Firing East!      

    A top phone call as disappointment! Exit from Brexit! Germany at the helm! End this political shame up!

    That’s it! The quartet of hope! Shame on Kosovo! The Summit of a Community without Identity!

    Only praises and prolises for Meloni! Facts versus untruths! Immediate ceasefire and genuine peace, no deal for new occupation! Back after 60 years !

    US nuclear tariff bomb!! Europa fires back! NATO ok, but with or without Article 5? Kallas urges reforms!

    Europe riarmed! Germany’s epochal shift! Spoiled soup! EU Commissioner Kos demands reforms!

    Europe tightens the ranks! The Euro-Atlantic Alliance in danger! USA-1945!! A true Peace, not new occupation!

    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    The law of force over the force of law! Multilateral diplomacy is the victim! Euro-Atlantism in danger! Munchen split the West!

  • Current Events

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Forum of Alumni from Saudi Universities in the Balkans

    Why Iran with Nukes is a Danger – Just Look at Cuba in 1962

    When bridges divide more than rivers…

    Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    Geneva meeting begins in bid to halt escalating Israel-Iran conflict

  • Top News

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    NATO allies agree to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035

    Reza Pahlavi: “This Is Our Berlin Wall Moment” — Exiled Prince Calls for Global Support as Iran Nears Regime Collapse

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

    Russia Proposes Second Round of Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul on June 2

    International leaders congratulate Prime Minister Rama after his victory in the parliamentary elections, securing a fourth term.

    Albania’s parliamentary elections competitive and well run but lacked level playing field, international observers say

    Top Ukrainian delegation arrives in Paris for talks with Western officials

    Marta Kos: Albania Making Rapid Progress Toward EU Integration

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  • Home
  • OP/ED

    Azerbaijan dismisses claims of involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

    Elite Purges: Internal Conflict or External Design?

    Trump’s Threat of U.S. Intervention in Iran Exposes Roots of Critics’ Fears

    Crisis-Born, Purpose-Seeking: Can the EPC Define Europe’s Strategic Future?

    Serbia’s Request to the ICJ Turned Resolution 1244 into a Closed Chapter and Kosovo’s Independence into an Internationally Recognized Reality

    Unpredictable world

    Promoting Arab Culture and Language in the Framework of Cultural Diversity and Dialogue.

    ‘A Tragic Circus’: Albanian PD Figures Lash Out After LaCivita-Backed Campaign Collapses

    Erosion of Liberal Democracy in Europe Complicates Canada’s Search for Like-Minded Allies

  • Interview

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    The Conclusion of the Diplomatic Mission / Ambassador Dancho Markovski: Strengthening Albania-North Macedonia Relations for a Shared European Future

    A Century of Diplomatic Relations Between Albania and Russia: Exclusive Interview with the Russian Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Alexey Zaytsev

    Exclusive/ The chairman of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta: “The will of the citizens will triumph in Albania, as it did in North Macedonia”

    Exclusive/ The Russian Ambassador to Albania Mr. Mikhail Afanasiev: Russia only aims to end that war started by the West in Ukraine

    Exclusive/ Skopje’s top diplomat to Tirana, Dancho Markovski: OSCE Chairmanship a Project of National Importance for North Macedonia

    Exclusive interview of Croatian Ambassador Zlatko Kramaric: ‘There is progress in Croatian-Albanian relations, but it is still not enough’  

    The first anniversary of the appointment as Archbishop at the head of the Catholic Church/ Mons. Arjan Dodaj: Only God can be the author of our walk!

  • Realpolitik

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    Chancellor Merz passed “the exam”! Political stupidity! 5 per cent or study Russian! The Firing East!      

    A top phone call as disappointment! Exit from Brexit! Germany at the helm! End this political shame up!

    That’s it! The quartet of hope! Shame on Kosovo! The Summit of a Community without Identity!

    Only praises and prolises for Meloni! Facts versus untruths! Immediate ceasefire and genuine peace, no deal for new occupation! Back after 60 years !

    US nuclear tariff bomb!! Europa fires back! NATO ok, but with or without Article 5? Kallas urges reforms!

    Europe riarmed! Germany’s epochal shift! Spoiled soup! EU Commissioner Kos demands reforms!

    Europe tightens the ranks! The Euro-Atlantic Alliance in danger! USA-1945!! A true Peace, not new occupation!

    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    The law of force over the force of law! Multilateral diplomacy is the victim! Euro-Atlantism in danger! Munchen split the West!

  • Current Events

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Forum of Alumni from Saudi Universities in the Balkans

    Why Iran with Nukes is a Danger – Just Look at Cuba in 1962

    When bridges divide more than rivers…

    Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    Geneva meeting begins in bid to halt escalating Israel-Iran conflict

  • Top News

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    NATO allies agree to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035

    Reza Pahlavi: “This Is Our Berlin Wall Moment” — Exiled Prince Calls for Global Support as Iran Nears Regime Collapse

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

    Russia Proposes Second Round of Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul on June 2

    International leaders congratulate Prime Minister Rama after his victory in the parliamentary elections, securing a fourth term.

    Albania’s parliamentary elections competitive and well run but lacked level playing field, international observers say

    Top Ukrainian delegation arrives in Paris for talks with Western officials

    Marta Kos: Albania Making Rapid Progress Toward EU Integration

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Home ENGLISH

Pulling a fast one. The Lithium Deal between Serbia and the EU

24 July, 2024
in ENGLISH, English OP/ED
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By Florian Bieber 

German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Belgrade, together with the outgoing Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Green Deal, MarošŠefčovič, was a strange affair. There was little advance notice concerning the visit itself, or the document that would be signed. Considering that Šefčovič is part of the outgoing Commission makes the matter even more unusual. During the visit, the EU signed a MoU on a strategic partnership on raw materials with the Serbian government.

The main purpose is to kick-start the project of Rio Tinto, a multinational mining company, to extract lithium in the Jadar valley in Western Serbia. The project was stopped by the Serbian government in late 2021 after massive citizens’ protestsand his government first dismissed the protests and sent out thugs to beat protestors.

However, the project was stopped as it was seen as a sensitive issue ahead of the of snap elections in 2022. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić declared in January 2022 that “With this decision, as far as the Jadar project and Rio Tinto are concerned, everything is over. It’s over.”

However, it was not over. Vučić called himself the “stupidest president in the world”for stopping the deal, suggesting that the decision was hardly final.In early 2024, once (yet another) election were over and Vučić declared that there would not be any snap elections in the forthcoming period-which had been a habit of the current regime – the government signaled that it would restart the project. By April, Vučić told the Financial Times that the project was back on track.

When the Constitutional Court decided on July 11 that the original annulment was unconstitutional, the government immediately restarted the project. Of course, the content and timing of the Court decision is a proper illustration of the “independence” of Serbian institutions. This is where the EU and Germany come in. As far back as in 2021, Germany and the EU signaled support for the mining project. The signing of the MoU and the visit of Scholz and Šefčovič are the most direct and public displays of support for the mining project to date. The fact that the summit takes place just over a week after the Court paved the way for the project to restart should raise some alarm bells.

Since 2022, Serbia held two rounds of parliamentary elections, both marred by serious irregularities, as well as local elections that saw massive voter fraud. Since 2015, there has not been a year without massive protests against the Vučić regime, including the largest rallies in Serbia since the fall of Milošević, in the summer of 2023, triggered by two mass shootings in and around Belgrade.

The claim by chancellor Scholz, that the project was “good because it will be developed in an environmentally compatible way, and is good because it creates economic activity and prosperity” is dubious. While the MoU commits Serbia to best practices on environmental, social and governance standards, there are serious doubts.

Firstly, Serbia has no independent institutions that could monitor the implementation of such standards. Since taking office, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has systematically taken over all state institutions and none of them are able to act independently of the ruling party and the president. Thus, there are no domestic institutional safeguards. There is furthermore no reason to believe that this would change, considering the centrality of state capture to the ruling party’s system of rule.

Secondly, there is no space for public debate and critical voices in Serbia. While there are a few independent media, they lack national reach and are demonized by media outlets controlled by the government or run by private businesses close to the ruling party. Any criticism of the ruling party, president Vučić or their key policies, is met with ad hominem attacks, smear campaigns and hate speech. Thousands of bots on social media controlled by the ruling party amplify these messages. Thus, a critical scrutiny of the project implementation in the public sphere is impossible.

Thirdly, the EU is unlikely to be an independent monitor of the standards. Clearly, the project is motivated by its interest to develop lithium capacities independently from China and as a result, there has to be serious questioning of whether the EU will insist on environmental and social standards in Serbia. If it does, there are doubts about its capacities.

Fourthly, the environmental and social track record of other projects in Serbia is dismal. Several investments in mining by Chinese companies have resulted in high pollution levels and slave-like conditions for imported labor, both in conflict with Serbia law. At the same time, Serbian authorities protected the projects and their investors. Considering the scale of the investment, there is little reason for it to be different in this case.

Finally, the deal is often seen through a misleading geopolitical lens. By linking Serbia to the EU, it may seem that Serbia is wooed away from other investors and global actors, such as China. However, Vučić has perfected his geopolitical game. While the domestic rhetoric of his media and acolytes is nationalist and anti-Western, he seeks to maximize the ‘art of the deal’ with as many global actors as possible, to ensure his own wiggle room. Thus, the regime has been seeking to make sure it has as few external conditions and restraints as possible.

Thus, there is little reason to believe that Germany’s and the EU’s endorsement of the Rio Tinto mine will help protect environmental or social standards and avoid graft and further empowerment of the ruling party. In fact, Scholz’s visit and the agreement ignores the protests, the election fraud, and state capture. It effectively buries EU integration in the Western Balkans, as it shows that the EU’s economic interests will trump rule of law and democracy. Believing that other Western Balkans governments are not taking note would be naïve. In the end, those who took to the streets in Serbia and across the region in protest against having nature devastated by ruthless investors and complicit states, will be left feeling more abandoned. And guess what? They are unlikely to turn to the EU for help or support.

/BiEPAG

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