Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz this morning in Belgrade.
Scholz arrived late yesterday to attend the summit on strategic
raw materials.
Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the European Commission and
Commissioner for the Energy Union is also in Belgrade for this
purpose. The agreement to be signed between Serbia and the
European Union will also cover the supply chain of batteries and
electric vehicles and aim to ensure that strategic raw materials
identified and extracted in Europe remain within European
borders.
The summit in Belgrade follows Serbia's recent decision to
revive a project to exploit a significant lithium deposit in the
country's west. The project had been put on hold in recent years
due to widespread public protests over concerns about the
environmental and health impacts of lithium extraction, a
crucial component for electric car batteries. However, the
Serbian Constitutional Court recently ruled that suspending the
lithium exploitation project was unlawful. This prompted
authorities to prioritize and reintroduce the project, citing
significant economic and employment benefits for Serbia.
President Vucic and the government have emphasized that any
operational decisions regarding the lithium mine will be made
with strict assurances on protecting the surrounding
environment.
Chancellor Scholz is accompanied during the meeting in
Belgrade by representatives from Mercedes Benz and officials
from several financial organizations and European banks. Vucic
and Scholz met yesterday on the sidelines of the European
Political Community's previous summit in the United Kingdom.
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