Open Letter Concerning the EU's support for the Project Jadar

We, a group of Serbian PhDs, who have completed part of our education abroad, mainly in the West, members of the academic community, researchers at institutes and other organizations, are signing the open letter below calling for the halting of the EU's support for the lithium-mining Project Jadar in Serbia. 

We now invite the members of the academic community, and PhDs more broadly, everywhere, but especially in Europe to sign this open letter!

If you decide to sign, please keep three things in my mind:

1. When signing the petition, please check 'Show my signature publicly online' — the credibility and impact of the letter depend on transparency and the academic standing of its signatories.
2. Please make sure to confirm your signature in the email that you will receive shortly afterwards (it may land in your spam folder). This will ensure that your signature is verified. 
3. The opinions expressed are solely of the signatories and do not represent the official stance of the organizations they are affiliated with. The end of the letter states that as well.

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To the Political Representatives of the EU,  

We express our deepest concern regarding the European Union’s current support for lithium mining in Serbia, in the Jadar Valley, one of the richest agricultural lands in Serbia and home to generations of successful farmers. Current plans for extracting lithium and boron from the mineral Jadarite and the accumulation of waste pose significant risks to the local environment, public health, and regional water resources. The project threatens to:  

a. Contaminate watercourses not just in the Jadar Valley but more broadly across parts of Serbia; 

b. Pollute a vast reservoir of fresh drinking water located in an underground basin near the planned mine site;  

c. Destroy the fertile farming capacity;  

d. Destroy biodiversity and ecosystems of the area.  

These dangers have been pointed out by eminent scientific authorities and credible experts.  

The potential water, soil, and air pollution would lead to disastrous health and economic consequences for the local population, causing waves of ecological refugees.  

Furthermore, the mining of lithium lacks support from the local residents and the broader Serbian population, as evidenced by mass protests a few years ago, a petition signed by nearly 300,000 people, and the rising tide of protests across Serbia in 2024.  

In any EU country, such conditions would almost certainly lead to the cancellation of the mining project. Yet, the current EU leadership and that of some of its member countries endorse the project, even though the current Serbian government is seeking to advance it by ignoring the rule of law and violating basic individual rights and freedoms.  

The pursuit of the lithium mining project can have pernicious socio-economic effects, including for Europe itself:  

- It sets a negative precedent to endanger the environment, food production, and water supplies to mine lithium and other minerals, sending a message that compromising the EU ecological standards is tolerable.

- It risks increasing unrest in Serbia and can destabilize not only Serbia but also the broader region of the Western Balkans in the medium term.

- It threatens to cause waves of ecological refugees, hundreds of families displaced by the loss of land and earning potential in the Jadar Valley, and most importantly, by the threat to their health and well-being.

- It alienates a nation with strong economic ties to the EU, people whose family members and friends work and study across Europe.  

We acknowledge the need to secure vital raw materials for the green transition. However, this is not the right path forward! Pursuing this lithium mining project would set Serbia on a destructive trajectory.  

We, therefore, call on you to urgently reconsider your support for lithium mining in Serbia in light of the enumerated risks and ethical concerns. Our collective efforts toward a greener future should be based on a sustainable and just transition approach, as recognized by the Paris Agreement.  

Respectfully,

[Signatories]

* We are submitting this statement in our personal capacities, and the opinions expressed are solely our own and do not represent the official stance of the organizations we are affiliated with.

Members of the Academic Community    Contact the author of the petition