BACKGROUND
Serbian government attempted to pass a controversial Expropriation Law under the urgent preliminary ruling procedure in order to enable a so-called Project Lithium. If successful, the London and Sydney-based mining company Rio Tinto would have doors opened for exploiting Serbian territory. And while this company has been previously known for causing environmental disasters, the draft version of the law itself has been available for a public hearing for only 7 days and it included many controversial aspects which undermine the public good. This is a typical case of a corrupted government running a country with a transition economy in an attempt to allow private company exploitation without market competition and standard legal procedures.
THE PROTESTS
In response, citizens of Serbia organized nationwide protests led by activist organization “Ekološki ustanak” and the initiative “Kreni promeni”. Reportedly the scale of the protests was massive and perhaps highest ever in Serbian modern history with capital city Belgrade and 10 other major cities in a complete traffic blockade. In an attempt to suppress protesters, the authorities have used a very sneaky and brutal method: at one point the official police has withdrawn from the scene in order to allow soccer hooligans attack the crowd. The interest-based relationship between the Serbian corrupted government and a few soccer fan organizations and their combined activity has been known before but never to this extent.
THE IMPACT
On December 8th, 2021 the government announced that the controversial law has been withdrawn. While addressing the public Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić stated “This is not a victory for the streets but my compliance with the will of our citizens.” Yeah right. Nevertheless, Serbians have demonstrated how it is done and that IT CAN BE DONE! Congratulations! The important battle has been won but the war around Project Lithium is still on so the final outcome remains to be seen.
