Serbia’s Jadar lithium project, led by Rio Tinto in western Serbia, has become a focal point in the intersection of European critical raw materials policy, Serbia’s resource-based development strategy and domestic opposition to large-scale mining. According to an EUI/RSC working paper, the project illustrates how demand for strategic minerals has become intertwined with debates over permitting, environmental safeguards, institutional credibility and public participation.
The study argues that the project extends beyond a conventional mining development because it combines the European Union’s effort to secure lithium supply, Serbia’s reliance on foreign investment and extractive industries, and sustained public resistance driven by environmental concerns and low trust in state institutions.
European supply chain priorities reshape the project
The paper describes the EU-Serbia agreement as an example of “critical raw materials pragmatism,” in which Europe’s strategic interest in securing lithium for battery manufacturing and electric vehicle supply chains increasingly competes with its traditional emphasis on democratic governance, environmental protection and public consultation.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, concerns over supply-chain resilience, dependence on China and implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act elevated the strategic significance of Serbian lithium resources within European industrial policy.
The Jadar project had previously been suspended in early 2022 after widespread environmental protests that included road blockades and opposition to proposed referendum and expropriation legislation. In January 2022, the Serbian government cancelled the project’s spatial plan, effectively invalidating Rio Tinto’s permits and declaring the project closed before national elections.
Project revival follows legal and political changes
The project re-emerged during 2024 after the Constitutional Court overturned the cancellation of the spatial plan, allowing the Serbian government to reinstate it following local elections.
Senior European Union and German officials subsequently travelled to Belgrade to sign a strategic partnership covering sustainable raw materials, battery value chains and electric vehicles. The relaunch positioned Jadar as part of Serbia’s broader relationship with Europe and as a potential contributor to the continent’s battery materials supply chain.
Germany’s involvement reflected both concerns over strategic dependence on China and the requirements of its automotive sector. For the Serbian government, the agreement also reinforced its position as a supplier of strategic minerals while maintaining broader relationships with the EU, China and Russia.
Survey identifies environmental concerns as primary source of opposition
Survey data presented in the working paper indicate that opposition to lithium mining in Serbia is driven primarily by environmental concerns rather than geopolitical considerations.
A representative 2024 survey found that 62% of respondents fully or mostly opposed lithium mining, while 26% expressed support. Support for protests against lithium mining reached 55%, compared with 36% who mostly or fully opposed the demonstrations.
Respondents identified concerns over water contamination, soil pollution, air quality and broader environmental degradation as the principal reasons for opposition. Only a small proportion identified foreign ownership or national interests as their primary concern.
The paper also states that many opponents of the Jadar project expressed stronger support for democratic governance and more favourable views toward the European Union than those supporting the mine, indicating that resistance was linked principally to confidence in domestic institutions rather than opposition to European integration.
Location and permitting remain central issues
The proposed Jadar mine is located in an agricultural valley in western Serbia where local communities depend on farming and land use. The study states that the project’s long exploration history, limited transparency surrounding earlier agreements and perceptions that planning and expropriation processes advanced before meaningful public participation contributed to declining public confidence.
According to the paper, the dispute evolved into a broader governance issue before lithium became a strategic European commodity.
Mining expands within Serbia’s investment model
The report places Jadar within Serbia’s wider economic strategy, which has increasingly relied on foreign direct investment, industrial expansion and resource extraction. Foreign direct investment increased from approximately €1.5 billion in 2013 to more than €5 billion in 2024, while national mining production doubled over the previous decade, with much of that growth occurring during the most recent five years.
The paper notes that Chinese investment has expanded significantly during this period and identifies Zijin Mining, Zijin Bor Copper and HBIS Group among Serbia’s leading exporters through their mining and metallurgical operations. The study argues that the Jadar project would therefore enter an economic environment where extractive industries already play a central role and where environmental concerns have accompanied industrial development.
Study examines evolving EU position
The working paper states that European institutions initially balanced environmental and democratic considerations with industrial interests but that support became more unified after the project’s revival in 2024.
According to the study, the European Commission and several member states increasingly treated Jadar as a strategically important project, while criticism of procedural issues and governance became less prominent than discussions surrounding supply security and industrial resilience.
The paper argues that this creates challenges for EU enlargement policy because support for a contested mining development could conflict with commitments to rule of law, environmental standards and democratic participation.
Industrial value chain remains a key consideration
The study distinguishes between lithium extraction and development of a broader battery manufacturing ecosystem. It states that long-term economic benefits would depend on investment extending beyond mining into mineral processing, cathode materials, battery cell manufacturing, recycling, skilled employment and industrial upgrading.
According to the paper, a mining operation exporting concentrate or intermediate products differs substantially from an integrated battery materials platform supported by transparent environmental controls and benefit-sharing mechanisms.
Strategic designation does not resolve project risks
The report notes that the European Commission later designated Jadar among third-country strategic critical raw materials projects.
However, during 2025, Serbia’s political tensions and renewed public mobilisation again slowed progress. Rio Tinto subsequently placed the Jadar project into care and maintenance, while stating that development could resume if conditions changed.
The paper identifies this sequence as evidence that strategic importance at European level does not eliminate domestic permitting, governance and social licence risks.
Environmental movement expands influence
The study traces the development of Serbia’s environmental movement from campaigns opposing small hydropower projects and air pollution into a broader national mobilisation that later focused on lithium mining.
By 2021, environmental activism had evolved into a nationwide political force linking rural land-use concerns, urban pollution, academic expertise and opposition groups, with Jadar becoming a central issue because it combined questions surrounding land use, water resources, governance, foreign investment and Serbia’s geopolitical orientation.
The paper also documents reports of increased pressure on activists during 2024, including detentions, accusations directed at civil society organisations, border controls and allegations of intrusive surveillance. It argues that such measures further weakened institutional trust, which it identifies as a prerequisite for securing social acceptance of major mining developments.
According to the study, future progress at Jadar will depend not only on lithium markets, battery demand or European industrial policy, but also on the establishment of transparent planning procedures, independent environmental assessments, credible water-risk analysis, open public participation, parliamentary oversight, verifiable permitting processes, comprehensive environmental and social due diligence, and greater contractual transparency regarding how project value is shared.
