Serbian citizens took the streets on the weekend to protest against high levels of pollution.
“The European Environment Agency said that deaths linked to pollution in Serbia are the highest in Europe and that Belgrade is the most polluted city in the continent. At least 15 Serbian cities are more polluted than 15 EU polluted cities altogether”, said activist Bojan Simisic while blaming the government.
“15,000 people died because of pollution, which means 50 people a day. That is even more than from COVID and nobody is saying anything about that”, he added.
On Saturday, demonstrators barricaded streets and bridges in a sign of protest against a law that favors foreign investors and even clashed with the police.
The resentment is mainly against “Rio Tinto”, an Anglo-Australian multinational mining corporation currently developing a project to extract lithium in the Jadar Valley, in western Serbia.
The company has dismissed concerns claiming that the project is in “compliance with the highest environmental standards”.
Lithium is a key element in the production of car batteries, and it has been highly sought for with demand for electric vehicles on the rise.
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