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00:00Banking the drum against lithium excavation, tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated
00:07in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to demand a halt to a new lithium project over fears
00:13it could pollute land and water.
00:19This is a planetary moment, but it is also true patriotism to fight for clean water,
00:27clean air and a clean land that feeds us all in Serbia.
00:35Government officials say the protests are politically motivated and designed to topple
00:40President Aleksandar Vucic from power.
00:44Belgrade signed a memorandum of understanding last month between Serbia and the EU regarding
00:48the project.
00:50It has reinstated the license of the mining company Rio Tinto to develop what would be
00:55Europe's biggest lithium mine in the Jadar Valley in the west of the country.
01:02Vucic says the project is important for Europe, but it represents a turning point and a quantum
01:07leap into the future for Serbia.
01:10That does not convince protesters.
01:14They gave the government a deadline to ban the exploration and exploitation of lithium
01:18which expired on Saturday.
01:20If implemented, the Jadar Valley lithium project could cover 90% of Europe's current lithium
01:26needs and make Rio Tinto one of the world's leading lithium producers.