Scholz: Jadar project good for Serbia, development

BELGRADE - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday in Belgrade the Jadar lithium mining project was good for Serbia and the prospects of economic development across the region, and noted that the highest environmental protection standards would be observed in the process.

"The European Commission and Serbia have just signed an important agreement that will boost our cooperation on raw materials supply. Others also concluded an agreement dealing with that development - companies as well as financial institutions that will be involved in that," Scholz said at a press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after the signing of a MoU on sustainable raw materials and a letter of intent.

This is an important European project, he said, noting that it was necessary for Europe to remain sovereign in a changing world and not be dependent on others.

That is why new sources of raw materials need to be found, he said.

"We must have a resilient structure in supply chains and we must discover new sources of raw materials around the world, but primarily those in our own countries, in countries where fate and fortune made it possible for those countries to have them. I admit, this decision takes courage, but it was made at the right moment," he said.

"We need electricity produced in a climate-neutral manner, but, first of all, we need batteries, and the fact that has now been made possible is good progress. I want to say explicitly that, first of all, the Jadar project is good for Serbia. It brings good prospects of economic development to the whole region," Scholz said.