Brnabic: I am not working for private company but in interest of Serbian citizens

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday she was not working for a private company but in the interest of the citizens of Serbia and that she was not trying to get away from decisions she had made as PM in 2017 and 2022 regarding a lithium mining project in Serbia.

At a press conference, Brnabic said she had not changed her mind about the significance of lithium mining, while no one in the opposition had spoken about environmental protection at the time.

Noting that she had not forgotten about an agreement on cooperation she had signed with Rio Tinto in 2017, Brnabic said present-day opponents of Rio Tinto and lithium mining who were now saying they had had nothing to do with the company were, in fact, the same people who had brought Rio Tinto to Serbia, giving it exploration rights.

She added that she had invited the press to a briefing in the government building at the time the agreement had been signed and that no one had been against Rio Tinto and that the only narrative had been that it was a huge opportunity for Serbia.

Asked about an unconstitutional provision adopted regarding the Rio Tinto project in 2022, she said any work might result in errors.

"Do you know how many laws adopted by the National Assembly of Serbia have elicited reactions by the Constitutional Court in which it declared parts of the laws unconstitutional? It happens. Evidently, I made a mistake. I am not an executive authority and I hope the government will continue to push for the project, but it is certainly important to speak in a well-argumented manner and to not get away from something that happened in the past," Brnabic said.