EU-Serbia lithium mining deal - dirty politics? - video Dailymotion

euronews (in English)

Mass protests are expected across Serbia this weekend in response to the new EU and Serbian lithium mining deal, signed a few weeks ago. Is history just repeating itself for Serbia?

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00:00Has the German government learned its lesson from North Stream 2?

00:05Apparently, yes.

00:06German Chancellor Olaf Scholz paid a surprise visit to Belgrade a few weeks ago

00:11to sign a major lithium mining deal with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic

00:16in a bid to reduce the EU's dependency on China.

00:20Germany has ambitions to build 15 million electric vehicles by 2030

00:26and keep its automobile industry afloat, which the German economy is largely dependent upon.

00:32But widespread protests are planned across Serbia this weekend

00:37with more than half of the Serbian population rejecting plans to mine in the Idar Valley.

00:43These plans are not only controversial due to the environmental cost of mining

00:48but also because of the politics.

00:50EU countries such as Austria, Portugal and the Czech Republic

00:54have large quantities of lithium in them.

00:57So it seems that the EU just wants to keep the dirty work outside of its own backyard.

01:02Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.

EU-Serbia lithium mining deal - dirty politics?

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