BELGRADE — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič locked down a series of deals Friday granting the EU and European carmakers exclusive access to Serbian lithium and paving the way for the construction of one of the largest lithium mines on the Continent.
“This is an important European project and contributes to Europe remaining sovereign and independent in the supply of raw materials in a changing world,” Scholz told journalists in the Serbian capital.
Šefčovič and Dubravka Đedović Handanović, Serbia’s mining and energy minister, signed a deal to formalize the EU supply chain and value-added processing for lithium mined by Rio Tinto, a British-Australian mining consortium.
Lithium, sometimes dubbed “white gold” due to its high demand in the green energy transition for use in the batteries that power electric vehicles and its distinctive white color, is plentiful — and so far untapped — in Serbia’s western Jadar region.
