Rally demands green agenda

Several thousand people protested in Belgrade on Saturday demanding a ban on planned lithium mining and action on other environmental issues that made the region one of the most polluted in Europe.

The rally was organized by about 30 ecological groups who have gained support in Serbia amid widespread disillusionment with mainstream politicians and the country’s major pollution problems.

The protesters held banners demanding protection of Serbia’s rivers, nature and air which they say have been endangered by profitseeking government policies and decades of neglect.

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition against the Rio Tinto mining company, which has sought to construct a lithium mine in the western part of the country that is rich in the mineral used in the production of electric car batteries.