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Although Aleksandar Vučić does not suffer from the typical fever syndrome, the recent protests in Serbia against the predatory multinational Rio Tinto and the regime represented by President Vučić seem, in the words of the protesters themselves, to have at least partially weakened his ability to exercise political immunity, leaving him in a dilemma: to choose between the logic of economic profit and the (ir)rational and (un)justifiable demands of his own citizens. Preliminary studies show that Serbia has rich deposits of lithium, an essential ingredient used not only to make batteries for almost all the gadgets we use – for mobile phones, tablets and laptops, but also for lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars. Combined with other elements in the aviation industry and high-speed trains, lithium has become a major political factor in Europe’s green transition to sustainable development with citizen participation. Lithium was once widely used in the pharmaceutical industry as a mood stabilizer, a compound that calms various forms of mania and bipolar disorder, and eliminates suicidal thoughts. It entered popular culture in the nineties through Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the band Nirvana, who described his life in the song “Lithium”.
So, the world needs lithium, it is present in most of the technological products we enslave, and Serbia has rich deposits of lithium, and the combination between market demand and abundant resources, multinational corporations on the one hand and the Serbian state apparatus on the other hand seems almost idyllic. Every time the parties bring it up, we write in a romantic tone, putting a part of ourselves into the desired partner, expecting benefits. Serbia’s lithium resources, according to data reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, similar to the Brussels Political News and the famous Wall Street Journal, the mining of lithium will create 20,000 jobs and an annual output value of 200 billion euros, 58,000 tons of lithium will meet about 90% of Europe’s demand for the metal. Economically, it will be a win-win situation, not only good for Serbia’s budget, but also will establish a special strategic partnership between the European Union and Serbia as a candidate for accession. When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Belgrade a month ago – after the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia issued a decree revoking the Serbian government’s decision to conduct lithium mining from January 2022, thus giving the green light to future activities – he spoke of this as a courageous European project to build a cleaner, more sustainable Europe, less exposed to China and other world players. However, in celebrating the economic and political strategic partnership with Serbia, Scholz forgot about various actors of civil society, especially ecological and other activists, who for years have been fiercely opposing any such partnership, fearing environmental and other disasters. The German Chancellor, who advocated in the halls of Berlin and Brussels for informed consent of citizens in many matters that directly affect them, almost completely ignored this aspect of Serbia – both the people and at least some of its citizens. Since then, the citizens have only revived the wave of revolt, spreading civil disobedience – mostly polite, without escalating violence – and Scholz has been reminded that he wants a clean European economy, while polluting and destroying the Serbian economy.
How much the people’s revolt affected President Vučić after the coincidence of economic, legal and (geo)political parameters in the form of future lithium mining can be seen from his public statements: he threatened to quit politics, spoke of hybrid wars and recently turned his attention to the NGO sector, which he sees as having only one goal – to eliminate his small power. Then he communicated with his own citizens personally: he explained to them the benefits of Serbia’s future economic miracle and promised to become the voice of their interests in front of powerful world lobbyists. At the same time, he experienced two symbolic blows from the well-known figures of Serbian culture and sports: in media appearances, Djokovic maintained his position since 2022, when he directly opposed the mining of lithium, and Emir Kusturica, in his style as a good performer, wrote an original composition entitled “March of Rio Tinto with Drina”, full of national pride, anti-globalization sentiments and feelings for the small people and their natural habitat, which the evil foreigners want to conquer. In. Whether he is critical of the regime to which he belongs, especially in terms of symbolic politics, or whether Kusturica advises the public to find a new strategic partner and eliminate the Rio Tinto consortium, the future will reveal.
While activists’ suspicions about lithium mining are certainly well-founded, they do not appear to have articulated enough to prevent any future mining of this valuable metal. It would be difficult for a country like Serbia, with so many lithium resources, to prevent the aforementioned economic activity, but perhaps it could choose a new strategic partner or develop an innovative public-private partnership model that is viewed more positively by the public.
Although politically he vacillates between the West and the East, the people and the elites, when it comes to economics and interests, Aleksandar Vucic presents himself as a pragmatic and authoritative politician who prefers to engage in strategic geopolitical arrangements by providing key resources to Western partners, for example as a substitute for lithium, and expecting that the international community may make some major political concessions in exchange for protection.
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