Here is an opportunity for the basic elements – earth, water, air, and even fire—to finally unite people around something healthy
Interview by: Dragan Nikolić
In Serbia, mass protests against lithium mining have begun. While the authorities, on one hand, are making every effort to justify lithium mining, environmental movements, together with citizens, are clearly and seemingly very loudly expressing their protest. We spoke on this occasion with Aleksandar Jovanović – Ćuta, who believes that this is a unique opportunity for the people to unite in the fight for their freedom and right to a healthy environment.
What have these protests in the cities of Serbia against Rio Tinto and lithium mining shown us?
The crime that is being systematically and continuously committed against nature and the people who live in its immediate surroundings, and who rely on it, has reached its peak. It represents an attack on everything healthy in this country, and it has been going on for a very long time. At the same time, the people who live off this land, who feed us, from academics to shepherds, no longer want to discuss or debate whether it is normal to displace those who feed us, to poison their fields and water sources, and to destroy everything for the sake of some project, for a handful of lithium. No one wants to discuss that anymore. This is no longer a question of whether you are for or against it. It is a matter of common sense, of basic human dignity. It is no longer a question of mines, memorandums, or their policies; it is a question of basic human dignity. Will we live as free people in our country, which should remain healthy, which we should leave as such to our children? This is the question of where such energy comes from. The more Vučić and Brnabić appear on television claiming that this project is good, the more people will be on the streets. I am confident that this will be resolved quickly.
How can a battle against Rio Tinto be won on the streets if the institutions are completely at the service of the government pushing the project? Do you believe that protests can awaken the institutions? What if that doesn’t happen?
Our institutions are plagued by corruption. It’s not just about the streets, but also the forests. Everyone warns, “Be careful not to end up in the streets,” but I tell them, “Be careful not to end up in the forests.” They will have a chance to see what that means if the cursed machinery appears in the magical Jadar Valley, which is essentially a death sentence. Vučić and Scholz will have the opportunity to witness the famous Serbian hospitality of the peasants, treating them as enemies, which is what they are.
I am not speaking without experience. From Stara Planina, we know what it means when they try to leave us without our water, streams, and rivers; it led to a general uprising, and they had to abandon those plans. No one is foolish enough to even discuss with you whether this project will go ahead or not; they will be received as they deserve. If that machinery appears in Gornja Nedeljica, it will be met with the appropriate response.
Regarding the streets and blockades, that’s what will follow. On the 10th, everyone who has taken to the streets in the past month will gather here. It will be an eruption of dissatisfaction. If anyone still doesn’t understand that the people are against this, then they have a problem of a different kind, not a rational one. Vučić needs to understand that there is no chance anyone will think this project is good for Serbia. This project is not about mining; it’s a deliberate project of ethnic cleansing, displacing people from areas they have lived in for centuries, and it’s particularly sensitive when you bring in Germans, especially to displace Serbs for lithium exploitation, to line their pockets with billions while displacing our people.
Whoever digs a lithium pit for their people will fall into it themselves
The potential consequences would affect a much wider area, not just the Jadar Valley and the Mačva region; half of Serbia would be impacted by this project.
The catastrophic consequences of this potential ecocide, should the mine be established, have been clearly outlined in studies and presentations by the experts in the field. These are the most knowledgeable individuals in biology, environmental protection, geology, agriculture, and ichthyology. Academics who, two years ago, stated what would happen if this project goes ahead.
If someone has a problem believing these people, like Academician Šolaja, like Nenad Kostić, one of the greatest living chemists in the world, like the late Vlada Stevanović, or if they don’t trust the Faculty of Biology, which was engaged by Rio Tinto to conduct an environmental impact assessment and which clearly stated that destruction of all living things in the area would occur, then they have an issue with reality.
Who is lying in this story about lithium? The government claims that you and other environmental activists are using falsehoods regarding the harm of lithium mining, while you and all the opponents claim that the government is lying.
Twelve years of A. Vučić’s and the SNS’s rule is a collection of severe crimes and criminal acts against nature. Those who claim they will meet ecological standards for this mine have left behind dozens of dried-up riverbeds, killing rivers and shoving them into pipes, destroying all life within them. Their actions are brutally evident. Hundreds of hectares of completely deforested land, poisoned fields, thousands of dumpsites, and, ultimately, 15,000 citizens died from air pollution, as reported by the WHO. These are the collective works of the SNS, which can simply be called ecocide and a crime against nature and people.
For someone living in the areas that would be sacrificed for mining, is it important who is lying, or do they simply have the right to not want the mine regardless of what the studies and experts say?
Whoever digs a lithium pit for their people will fall into it themselves. This is a new folk proverb. The real question is, who decides whether there will be a mine or not? And fundamentally, whose lithium is it? Whose gold is it? Whose natural resources are they? Everything below and above the ground, whose is it? Who does it belong to, and who decides how it will be exploited? Certainly not Aleksandar Vučić and Scholz, but those who live on that land.
Everyone should ask themselves whether they would send their child to a school in Gornje Nedeljice and what it’s like to be a child in that place when the whole world is piling on your village, your childhood, your parents, your fields, your barn, and the animals you live with. What is it like to be a child in Gornje Nedeljice when your village starts to crumble? Then ask why Gornje Nedeljice lives like Serbia after the NATO bombing: destroyed houses, broken hearts, people moving out, pressured to sell their land.
How do you comment on the attitude of the West and diplomats in Serbia regarding this issue?
From the east, the Chinese and Comrade Xi struck, ravaging Bor and Majdanpek, and from the west, Scholz struck. In reality, everyone has come for their share of the spoils, with Vučić acting like a waiter and turning Serbia into a smorgasbord. Whoever came here got whatever they wanted from Vučić. The Chinese got gold and copper, the Russians got gas and oil, and now the third predator is up—Rio Tinto, representing the West, which sees us as prey. They couldn’t care less about who is in power here or about democracy. It’s a form of perfidious hypocrisy and deceit reigning in the EU, pretending to care while demanding we meet certain standards. Would they accept such terms?
So, what is not acceptable for you is not acceptable for us either. Don’t try to sell us the story that we need to meet some standards. We will protect nature as you do. It’s very simple.
If I am engaged in organic food production on my land, why should it be indifferent to me if my neighbour stores waste right next to my fence (EU and Serbia)? Shouldn’t it be in the EU’s interest for Serbia to also be “clean,” considering we are like the backyard next to theirs?
There is no concern for nature when it comes to Serbia providing them with lithium. Lithium is their answer to Chinese electric car production. They see us as prey. There is no rational, ecological, or humane aspect from the EU’s perspective—they see us as a colony.
The catastrophic consequences of this potential ecocide, should the mine be established, have been clearly outlined in studies and presentations by the experts in the field
But whoever gives something must certainly get something in return. So, if Vučić gives them whatever they desire, what does he get in return?
What he cherishes most, what he can’t live without, what he is organically tied to—power, unlimited power. Vučić is an addict; he’s overdosed on power. He is a severe addict of what we call power and might. He gets to imagine himself as a god in exchange for giving away anything and everything.
This is not a political issue since we’ve seen that opponents of the mine come from all parties and political orientations. However, it is indeed an ultimate political issue because politics shapes the lives of ordinary citizens. What do you think?
The previous government is also involved in this, and the current government still participates in this scheme. The principle here is whoever can grab something does. For 30 years, there have been no real changes. After everything that has happened to us—wars and horrors—the same people who controlled things 30 years ago still control them today. We haven’t known Vučić just since yesterday; we’ve known him for 30 years. These are the same people who led this country into wars. And we are still not ready to decide what kind of country we want to live in. That should be our decision. We are not capable of replacing Vučić. We keep dealing with the same ghosts from the past. This is up to us, not him.
Here is an opportunity for the basic elements – earth, water, air, and even fire—to finally unite people around something healthy. If people are going to rally around something, if there is something healthy to rally around that isn’t politics, it is the environment. These are the basic elements we must unite around.