German media: As long as the lithium project lasts, Vučić and Dodik know they can do whatever they want

(Patria) - In an article published by Berliner Zeitung, Rhotert writes about Serbia, particularly referring to the lithium deposit in the Jadar Valley, which is intended to serve the German automotive industry – at least according to the plans of the Serbian authorities and Rio Tinto.

Alexander Rhotert has been dealing with the former Yugoslavia for decades and was part of various UN, OSCE, and EU diplomatic missions…

At the beginning of the article, the author states that the Register of Lobbyists maintained by the German Bundestag shows that the consulting firm of former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer (Greens) has Rio Tinto as a client, and that the Ministry of Economy is led by the German Greens, writes Deutsche Welle.

State Secretary of that Ministry, Franziska Brantner, played an important role in the negotiations with Serbia. Brantner later became Vice-President of the Greens. Rhotert recalls a meeting in Belgrade in July last year, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also there.

No criticism from Berlin

„Vučić’s praise for Brantner, who was very operationally engaged, was striking. The fact that lithium extraction can cause great environmental damage seems not to matter,“ the article in Berliner Zeitung reads.

„Neither Scholz nor Brantner consulted the project’s opponents. And none of them criticized the increasingly authoritarian behavior of Vučić’s regime at home, and its increasingly aggressive behavior abroad,“ writes Rhotert, assessing:

„It is scandalous how one of Europe’s last autocrats is supported and how mass protests are ignored.“

According to Rhotert, lithium has been prioritized „even though Serbia does not respect EU sanctions against Russia,“ making it „Moscow’s economic lifeline in Europe.“

Lithium deal – a timely success

Following this claim, the author further states that a law „on foreign agents“ is „in preparation“ in Serbia, modeled after Moscow. The author clearly refers to Aleksandar Vulin’s proposals, after which Vučić denied the adoption of such a law.

The article also recalls the discovery that Serbian authorities are using spyware against activists and journalists, that some critics have received death threats, and that, after the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad, „protests against pervasive corruption and nepotism have intensified.“

„The lithium deal, initiated by Scholz and implemented by Brantner, was a timely success for Vučić’s regime in this regard,“ the political scientist assesses.

Rhotert adds that in December, Scholz hosted Vučić, on the same day that Vučić reiterated that he was being overthrown in Serbia from the outside, from the West, and that he would not serve foreigners.

„It is strange that he is the one who goes into these conspiracy theories, he who receives billions of euros in support from the EU and is courted in Berlin like few others,“ Rhotert assesses.

„No ‘foreigners’ will overthrow Vučić; on the contrary, Berlin and Brussels fatally see him as an ‘anchor of stability’ in the region. But his citizens have had enough of living in one of Europe’s last autocracies,“ Rhotert believes.

„They can do whatever they want"

The author claims that Belgrade was „at least indirectly“ involved in several attacks on KFOR and Kosovo security forces during 2022 and 2023, and that it „continuously destabilizes Bosnia.“

„Despite everything, the Chancellor’s office – for Vučić’s sake – has been blocking Kosovo’s admission to the Council of Europe since May 2024,“ Rhotert states. Berlin, incidentally, explained this blockade by stating that Pristina has not yet formed the Community of Serb Municipalities, which was agreed upon more than ten years ago.

Another indicator for Rhotert is the participation of a large delegation of the Serbian government at an unconstitutional paramilitary parade celebrating January 9th as the Day of Republika Srpska.

He recalls that on that day in 1992, convicted war criminal Radovan Karadžić founded Republika Srpska „and thus the cornerstone of the war in Bosnia,“ and that the current president of the entity, Milorad Dodik, is following a plan of secession and unification with Serbia.

Citing some warnings from Germany and Kosovo, Rhotert writes: „Vučić and Dodik know that they can do whatever they want, as long as the lithium project lasts,“ and that the lack of solidarity with Serbian civil society is a „historical mistake,“ reports Deutsche Welle.