Question isn’t whether lithium in Serbia will be mined or not, but who will do it – Brantner

Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said the question isn’t whether lithium in Serbia would be mined or not, but if Rio Tinto and European partners would do it or China.

A few days ago, tens of thousands of people gathered in Belgrade to protest against Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium project.

In an interview with German newspaper Tageszeitung, Franziska Brantner said lithium is among the raw materials necessary for climate action. It is mined in Australia and Chile, but entirely processed in China.

Since the Russian aggression on Ukraine, it has become clear, in her words, that dependence on others is dangerous.

The goal of the German government is to reduce such dependencies and the project in Serbia could be the cornerstone of its strategy, the official said.

Rio Tinto’s original plans didn’t meet the European Union’s environmental standards

Brantner stressed that Rio Tinto’s original plans didn’t meet European environmental standards. It was the right thing to protest against the project and it is good it was terminated, she added. According to Brantner, the German government and the European Commission have called for a change in concept.

Lithium in Serbia should only be extracted in processes that aren’t harming the environment, with a high level of water and soil protection and a very good plan for waste disposal, she asserted.

With the pressure in Serbia, among other factors, the project was redeveloped, according to Brantner. Now there is a new landfill concept, she added. More mining waste would be reused and it shouldn’t be done in the middle of a river valley, the official claimed.

There is also a new concept for water protection, and the project leans on renewable energy sources, she said.

Are Germany and Europe stabbing Serbia in the back?

The German newspaper’s interviewer noted that the examples of Chile and in other regions of the world show that lithium mining causes devastation in the surrounding area. He pointed to the Serbian population’s resistance and asked Brantner Germany and Europe are stabbing the country in the back.

Germany has taken the concerns of the Serbian population into account very seriously and made efforts to adjust Rio Tinto’s plan, she said.

According to Brantner, the European Union will monitor the new environmental impact assessments to make sure that environmental standards are met. The EU also intends to develop a value chain for battery production and e-mobility, she said.

Unlike many other projects around the world, where the raw material is only exported, here, in her words, the local population would participate in the value chain.

The control over the project is in the hands of Serbia

Rio Tinto has vowed to comply with EU environmental law, though in Serbia it applies only partially, according to Brantner. It is up to Serbia to oversee the project, while the EU and Germany can provide expert advice, she added.

European companies, in her words, also want compliance with environmental standards.

Brantner acknowledged that the local population and opposition parties are right to demand from state institutions to enforce environmental standards. At the same time, it is good if Europe has its own mines and processes the ore in line with its rules, according to the state secretary.

EU wants to prevent China from increasing its influence on European sources of raw materials

That way the EU is preventing China from exerting greater influence with regard to European sources of raw materials, Brantner stressed.

The question is not whether the lithium project in Serbia would materialize, but whether Rio Tinto and European partners would implement it or the Chinese would, she said. Brantner expressed the belief that a partnership between Serbia and China wouldn’t bring more benefits for democracy, the environment, and population in Serbia.

The new Jadar project is also an opportunity fto show the world that German and European companies are making a difference and that the extraction and processing of raw materials can be much more environmentally friendly than until now, Brantner said.