BELGRADE (Reuters) – Several thousand people blocked traffic in front of the Serbian parliament on Saturday in a protest against the lack of government action to prevent water, soil and air pollution by industries such as the mining sector.
The protesters, who came to Belgrade from all over Serbia, held banners that read “Cut corruption and crime, not forests” and “Young people leave because they can’t breathe.”
In recent years, Serbia has begun selling its mining resources to foreign companies, despite opposition from local residents who had warned that increased ore exploration could cause more pollution.
The former Yugoslav republic, which went through a decade of wars and economic crisis in the 1990s, had no resources to fight pollution. As it seeks to join the European Union, Serbia will need billions of euros in investment to meet the bloc’s environmental standards.
Aleksandar Jovanovic, one of the leaders of the protests, told the crowd that investors are all welcome in the country, but added: “But you can’t poison our children.”
“None of those in power care about anything but money, they don’t care about ecology,” said a protester, who gave his name only as Marjan and who drove from the town of Jagodina, 140 kilometers away. miles) from Belgrade, he told Reuters.
Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Montage by Frances Kerry