As Government Backs Down, Serbians Call For Ban On Lithium Mining

Environmental protests took place across Serbia for the third Saturday in a row on December 11. Hundreds joined road blockades organized by the Environmental Uprising movement in Belgrade, Nis, and other cities. Their demand was for British-Australian company Rio Tinto to be prevented from mining lithium in western Serbia. Following previous protests with larger turnouts, the Serbian government withdrew a bill on the expropriation of private property and amended a bill on referendums. Critics suspected that the legislation would remove checks and balances for environmentally controversial projects.