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2021–2022 Serbian environmental protests
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<p>In September 2021, a series of environmental protests began in <a href="/facts/Belgrade/Xeaz5zIy">Belgrade</a> and other locations in <a href="/facts/Serbia/U0LVzPdI">Serbia</a>. Protesters demanded the rejection of <a href="/facts/Rio_Tinto_(corporation)/CCYJBbUL">Rio Tinto</a>'s mine investment and the withdrawal of proposed changes to the Expropriation and Referendum Laws. </p><p>Anglo-Australian corporation Rio Tinto discovered <a href="/facts/Jadarite/9U6dsuqY">jadarite</a>, a mineral that has high concentration of <a href="/facts/Lithium/7vXX6BWA">lithium</a>, in the <a href="/facts/Jadar_(Drina)/2xg8myNU">Jadar Valley</a> in 2004. Rio Tinto was given permission in 2017 by the <a href="/facts/Government_of_Serbia/6ykuNf1K">government of Serbia</a> to open a mine from which lithium would be extracted. Rio Tinto's project received criticism from environmental activists and academics, stating the possibility that the project could pollute the nearby environment. Amidst the protests, changes to the Expropriation Law and Law on Referendum were proposed in the <a href="/facts/National_Assembly_of_Serbia/mswEoRq6">National Assembly of Serbia</a>. Organisations, activists, and politicians alleged that the laws were connected to Rio Tinto. The changes to the Law on Referendum were withdrawn in December 2021. In the same month, Rio Tinto's <a href="/facts/Spatial_plan/TFgmopPh">spatial plan</a> was abolished. </p><p>The government of Serbia annulled all contracts with Rio Tinto in January 2022, however the protests continued up until the dissolution of the National Assembly on 15 February, during which demands for introducing a <a href="/facts/Moratorium_(law)/h3CfXdng">moratorium</a> on exploitation of lithium increased. Organisations like <a href="/facts/Ecological_Uprising/C6dSSGXF">Ecological Uprising</a>, Alliance of Environmental Organisations of Serbia, and Kreni-Promeni were the ones who organised <a href="/facts/Traffic_obstruction/hpuqPr5T">roadblock protests</a>, at which clashes occurred. In an opinion poll that was conducted during the protests, a majority of the public were supportive of the protests. </p>