National Assembly of Serbia rejects proposition to ban mining of lithium and boron

After four days of discussion, the members of the National Assembly of Serbia voted against the proposition to ban the exploration and exploitation of boron and lithium.

The minister of mining and energy, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, invited the opposition MPs to, in her words, not scare the citizens through wrong information.

The president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Dragan Djilas, said that lithium would not be mined in Serbia, because independent experts had said that the project would have major negative consequences and invited the authorities to compete at elections.

The assembly voted against the opposition’s proposition to amend the Law on Mining and Geological Explorations, which sought to ban the exploration and exploitation of boron and lithium.

A total of 84 of the 214 MPs present voted in favor of amending the law, 128 voted against, there were no withheld votes, and two MPs didn’t vote.

Previously, the proposal of Danijela Nestorovic, who had proposed the amendments and who had requested for the voting to be public, by MPs being called out, was rejected.

Narodna skupština Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

National Assembly of Serbia

Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia

Party of Freedom and Justice

Dragan Đilas

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

Law on Mining and Geological Explorations

ban on research and exploitation of boron and lithium