Serbia, first round for environmentalists: Rio Tinto project for lithium mine suspended

BERLIN – First, at least temporary but decisive victory of the environmentalists in the former Yugoslavia, surprisingly in the days of Christmas. The Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, linked to Chinese giants in the sector, has currently suspended the project for huge excavations for a giant lithium mine in Serbia. It is an even more important victory politically, in the first military and economic power of the former federal socialist republic, Serbia precisely, since next year, in April, its leader and strongman, the young president Aleksandar Vucic, re-election as head of state will be played by universal suffrage vote.