German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Serbia on Friday to discuss a tentative deal with the Balkan country to excavate lithium, a mega project that could reduce Europe's dependency on China but one that has been fiercely criticised by environmentalists and opposition groups.
Germany, the largest carmaker in Europe, is seeking to secure lithium for its electric vehicle makers as the European Union struggles to reduce its dependence on imports from China. Lithium is a critical substance in making batteries for electric vehicles
China currently dominates the supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.
The excavation of lithium was back in the limelight after Serbia's constitutional court earlier this month overturned a previous ruling to cancel a USD 2.4 billion mining project launched by British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto in the western Serbian valley of Jadar, which is believed to be the largest lithium discovery in Europe.
The Serbian government's decision to cancel the excavatio
