Brnabic: Next government to decide on whether to relaunch Rio Tinto project

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic said on Monday a Rio Tinto lithium mining project in Serbia had been stopped but that a decision on whether to relaunch it was now up to the next Serbian government.

Brnabic said she supported the project because she believed it could help the development of western Serbia and noted that it had been stopped because she had not wanted to allow "political games" played at the time against President Aleksandar Vucic.

"On one hand, foreigners believed Aleksandar Vucic would push the project through despite protests because he knew the project was good for Serbia. On the other hand, they funded the protests and helped organise them in order to weaken Aleksandar Vucic. By doing so, they wanted both their cake and to eat it," Brnabic told Happy TV.

"A decision on this is up to the future government. I hope we will have sufficient understanding for this project," she added.