Serbia’s Lithium Standoff: A Parliamentary Majority Built on Rejection

Rio Tinto discovered jadarite near Loznica in 2004, estimating the deposit could yield 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually—enough to supply 1.1 million electric-vehicle batteries. Despite this potential, the project has faced two decades of intense volatility. Mass protests and widespread road blockades in 2021 forced the government to scrap the venture in January 2022, following an activist campaign that gathered 290,000 signatures.

The dynamic shifted again in July 2024 when the Constitutional Court declared the cancellation unlawful. Shortly thereafter, the European Union and Serbia signed a raw-materials partnership during Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Belgrade, framing the mine as a pillar of European sovereignty. While the European Commission maintains the Jadar project on its list of strategic raw-materials initiatives, Kokanović remains resolute, advocating for a legislative ban on all lithium exploration. How the EU navigates this divide between its strategic energy goals and the democratic mandate of Serbia’s new leadership will likely redefine the geopolitical relationship between Brussels and Belgrade.