Environmental protests have taken place in Serbia, with blockades across the country

 

 The Ecological Uprising initiative, backed by 40 organizations, blocked roads across Serbia in 50 places on Saturday. The aim of the new blockades is the final expulsion of the British mining company Rio Tinto from the country. According to organizers, this is an environmental protest with political demands, a Macedonian News Agency (MIA) correspondent in Belgrade was quoted as saying by Skopje-based 24 Info.

 "The goal of the new blockades is the final expulsion of Rio Tinto from Serbia and the adoption of a law banning lithium mining in Serbia, and until then there will be no peace. Alexander Vucic and Rio Tinto are also very wrong if they think we will stop just because someone has met both requirements of the two laws. There will be no peace while Rio Tinto is in Serbia. Serbia cannot be poisoned. This is the most important. The next steps are the municipal council of Loznitsa to schedule a session at which the Rio Tinto mine will be deleted from the development plan of this city and all of us will then go to Loznitsa, said Alexander Jovanovic. Chuta, leader of the Environmental Uprising, added that "Aleksandar Vucic Ana Bernabic and Zorana Mihajlovic (Serbian Deputy Prime Minister) are unable to decide, but to implement the law and the Constitution."

The center of the protest in Belgrade was near the Sava Center, where the E75 highway was blocked and thousands of people gathered, and the protest took place simultaneously in 50 places in Serbia.

 "I think the environmental movement is the most important thing that's been happening to us lately. People resist and strive to protect their lives and what surrounds them: water, land, air. This is an ecological protest, but also against Alexander Vucic, who put us ecologically in the twilight zone. He did nothing, sold the land, brought dirty technology. "He is the main culprit, but the essence of our revolt is the environment," said director Goran Markovic.

At the end of the protest in Belgrade, there was a minor incident with a fight between citizens waiting in their cars and protesters, and there were similar incidents in Nis and Novi Pazar.

 Commenting on environmental protests and blockades, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is in Nis, said "all the wishes and congratulations" of the protesters have been met, even those that are "political whims", adding that he did not want to talk about these today. protests.