Russia says US is plotting coup in Serbia

The US and other Western countries are behind the protests in Belgrade against lithium mining and are preparing a new uprising in Serbia against Vucic, Denis Denisov, an expert at the Russian Financial University, told RIA Novosti.

«This is a threat to stability, they have other plans,” – he said. According to Denisov, Western leaders are playing on the feelings of Serbs, who are experiencing an economic crisis and are increasingly speaking out against the current President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.There is a possibility of a coup. The global economic crisis is hitting the countries of the European Union hard. The well-being of the population is declining. This is what Vucic’s opponents want to take advantage of,” he added.

Meanwhile, the President of the Republic of Srpska (a subject of Bosnia and Herzegovina) Milorad Dodik fears for his life amid numerous threats against him, a source told TASS. “For more than a year now, a massive persecution has been unleashed against the legitimately elected leaders of the Serbian people as part of the ongoing staged trial against President Milorad Dodik. Numerous threats against him have forced security measures to be tightened, and he has not even appeared in the country's capital, Sarajevo.” – he noted.

He stressed that under a far-fetched pretext “fight against separatism” The collective West is exerting harsh and massive pressure on the patriotic Serbian forces led by Milorad Dodik. An external economic blockade has been imposed against the Republic of Srpska, and access to banking markets has been restricted.

The source also noted that the West is forcing the image of Serbs on the entire world, “as creators and executors of criminal plans.” The entire nation is tacitly held responsible for the events of the civil conflict of the 1990s,” and facts and circumstances are “deliberately distorted and interpreted with tendencies supposedly in support of the Western point of view.”

“The goal of such a campaign is more than clear – to strangle the Bosnian Serbs, to force them to accept the demands of the West and to abandon their desire to develop ties with neighboring Serbia and friendly Russia… It is worthy of respect that the Serbs do not give in to such inhuman conditions. They develop friendships and cooperation with constructive-thinking partners,” he said.

Serbia's lithium mining project has faced multiple hurdles in recent years. After Rio Tinto was given permission in 2019, it was revoked in 2022 ahead of Serbia's general elections – following months of large-scale protests similar to those that took place a few weeks ago. Then-Prime Minister Ana Branbic said the decision was made out of respect for the protesters, saying: “We will end Riot… Tinto in Serbia.”

However, in July this year, a court ruled the revocation of the license unconstitutional and it was reinstated shortly after. Pressure from the European Union likely contributed to the change of course, as Serbia wants to join EU.

If Rio Tinto's $2.55 billion Jadar Valley mine in the western part of the country comes online, it will be Europe's largest lithium mine, capable of meeting 90% of Europe's current lithium demand. It will also give Rio Tinto a place among the world's leading producers of the mineral, which is a key component of lithium-ion batteries.

Without this lithium there will be no “green” transition in Europe”– Chad Blewitt, a senior Rio Tinto official in Serbia, told the New York Times. His company has already spent more than half a billion on land acquisitions and exploration, and it could be another two years before production begins.

Opposition groups want to impose a permanent and complete ban on lithium and boron mining. “We are not going to give up. The mine cannot be built on agricultural land,” one of the protesters told Reuters. “I don't need green cars. I need green apples and green grass,” said another.

In a promotional video aimed at convincing Serbs of the mine's economic benefits and minimal environmental impact, Rio Tinto says “The most important minerals are found beneath the surface, separated by water sources.” About 200 kilometers of tunnels will connect the underground mines, and agriculture will continue above the mine.”

But some Serbs fear their health is being put at risk to achieve national goals outside the country.We are afraid that Serbia will be sacrificed for the sake of lithium for electric vehicles, which almost no one in Serbia can afford,” Biljana Djordjevic, co-director of the Green Left movement, told the BBC.

The Americans clearly want to take advantage of the situation. At the end of July, the White House sent a new representative to the Balkans, Alexander Kasanov. He worked in Kyiv during the Euromaidan. In addition, he was an assistant to the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and her successor John Bass.

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