Serbian PM, Ana Brnabić, stated that the decree on designating a special area for the processing of jadarite ores was annulled in yesterday’s government session.
In addition, the permits and regulations related to the Rio Tinto Company were revoked. “All administrative acts related to Rio Tinto and Rio Sava, all permits, decrees, solutions and everything else related to the Jadar project has been cancelled,” she said.
“This means that everything connected to the Jadar project and Rio Tinto is finished,” she said, offering all documents to environmental organizations immediately. Brnabic recalled that Rio Tinto has been present in Serbia since 2004 with research permits, before the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power.
Brnabic claimed that Savo Manojlovic, one of the leaders of the environmental organizations protesting against Rio Tinto, confirmed that their demands were met but called him an illiterate liar because of his statement that the president hadn’t verified the initiative to revoke Rio Tinto’s permits which were submitted to parliament.
The Prime Minister went on to attack foreign organizations which she claims financed environmental protests against Rio Tinto. She said that she doesn’t have the words to describe the hypocrisy of the foreigners financing the environmental organizations opposing the opening of the Rio Tinto company’s mine and their protests, adding that the biggest financiers of the protests were from the US, Great Britain, Germany and Austria such the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, British Council and Heinrich Bell Foundation.
(021.rs, 20.01.2022)
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