Euronews.green writes that the Serbian government invited multiple officials last week in Belgrade to talk about the possibilities of developing a lithium industry in the country. Among the attendees was the CEO of German car brand Mercedes-Benz.

The talks were about Serbia's large lithium deposits, found in 2004 by global mining company Rio Tinto, which amount to around 158 million tons of lithium ore. This could power around 30% of Europe's electric car production, if excavated and processed.

Currently, Europe and the entire world for that matter counts on South America's lithium deposits, some of the largest in the world, which are mostly processed in China.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that "this is indeed a European project. I would connect my presence here with the clear support for the European integration of the Western Balkan countries."

The future mine in Serbia, which could open in 2028, will create 2.100 jobs for the locals, but experts warn that environmental risks should be taken very seriously and so should the solutions to prevent these risks from becoming reality.

To ensure that lithium won't be exported to different areas of the world, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that companies that will want to use Serbian lithium will have to open facilities in the country, ensuring a nearby value chain.

UK ambassador to Serbia, Edward Ferguson, said that "we are considering how to build the value chain so that, after the lithium that will come out of the land, we have the processing of lithium: turning lithium into cathodes that will then go into the batteries which will eventually power the new generation of electric cars."