Spotlight on mining in the Western Balkans

By Ema-Džejna Smolo-Zukan and Frauke Seebass

This article was first published by European Western Balkans on 20.11.2025. The original article is available at this link.

The tenth edition of the EU Raw Materials Week takes place this week in Brussels and brings together stakeholders from European institutions, industry, governments, academia, and civil society to discuss the latest developments in raw materials policy and innovation. While not part of the main agenda, two side-events brought into the spotlight the complicated interaction between enlargement objectives and mining in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Critical raw materials (CRMs) are vital to the EU’s economy but face significant supply risks due to increasing global demand. To reduce reliance on imports and boost strategic autonomy, industrial resilience and competitiveness, the EU in 2024 adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). In view of fierce global competition, in which the EU is yet to assert itself, the act builds on the strengths of the single market and aims at creating mutually beneficial partnerships, reliable value chains, and diversification of investments.

The Western Balkan states have emerged as seemingly ideal partners in this endeavour, based on their geographic location, and their already ongoing integration and alignment with EU legislation as part of the accession process. In addition, all six countries hold deposits of key minerals sought by the EU, and have a long mining tradition. Strategic partnerships under the CRMA could boost the necessary modernisation of skills and technologies, improve public oversight of the sector, and ease brain drain. However, these plans are being met with broad local resistance even at their early stages, highlighting the problematic nature of mining in general and specific risks in individual countries.

A closed-door roundtable hosted by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Southeast Europe, as well as an official side event by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung therefore used the margin of this year’s Raw Materials Week in Brussels to promote new in-depths studies by local experts, unpacking imminent environmental, (geo-)political, societal, and economic risks and providing recommendations for the way forward.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Transparency Gaps and Scarred Communities

Although not formally part of the EU raw materials initiatives, BiH is experiencing a quiet surge in exploration projects. Experts noted that at least a dozen CRM-related activities—ranging from early geological surveys to preparatory works—are underway. Communities often learn of these only after drones, helicopters, or unfamiliar contractors are already on their land.

Weak transparency, limited public information, and the highly fragmented governance system make it difficult to assess which minerals are being sought and by whom. Environmental concerns and illegal activities, including water contamination, deforestation, and suboptimal land conversion, deepen this uncertainty. Several sites sit near former wartime front lines or recently demined terrain, raising sensitivities in communities still carrying substantial social and psychological legacies.

Serbia: Lithium Rush Amid Governance Strains

In June 2025, the European Commission approved Rio Tinto’s highly contested Jadar lithium and boron project in Serbia as a “Strategic Project” under the CRMA.The protests against the project have merged into the ongoing nationwide demonstrations that have, since the railway station canopy collapse in Novi Sad on 1 November 2024, brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streetsto demand an end to state despotism under president Aleksandar Vučić.

Experts cite concerns over insufficient administrative capacity, slow and inconsistent permitting, and the frequent use of exceptional legal instruments to bypass standard procedures. Many citizens view state institutions as acting more in the interest of foreign investors than as neutral arbiters safeguarding public welfare. Combined with wider democratic backsliding and the daunting example of the Chinese-owned coper mine in Bor, this has eroded trust and made community acceptance increasingly unlikely without significant reforms.

Regional Patterns

Despite different political structures, Serbia and BiH face comparable risks: weak regulatory oversight, inconsistent or opaque permitting procedures, the marginalisation of affected communities, environmental damage with little accountability, and rising local resistance shaped by a lack of trust – all of these in stark contrast with the principles postulated in the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act. Global demand pressures, foreign corporate interest, and internal political rivalries exacerbate these issues, and the CRMA at this point seems to add to this pressure rather than providing real alternatives.

Both Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are candidate states in the EU enlargement process, but recent EU reports registered serious shortcomings in judicial independence and the fight against corruption, as well as limited space for independent media and civil society. Activists fear that industrial pressure will lead the EU to sideline meaningful environmental concerns the countries committed to and thereby further boost autocratic elites. 

What is at Stake for the Region – and the EU

Although the Western Balkans were not addressed officially as part of Raw Materials Week, the side events provided critical context. They underscored that the region is already part of Europe’s raw materials landscape, formalised or not. Projects are advancing, communities are responding, and political dynamics are shifting, all while the EU and its industries increasingly look to diversifying supply chains.

As a way forward, the experts stressed that sustainable cooperation on raw materials requires early and meaningful community engagement, transparent assessments, and strong rule-of-law standards, coupled with recognising the right of local communities to oppose mining. Coupled with the EU enlargement process, coherent messaging and stronger conditionality are key, as well as real guarantees that environmental safeguards apply equally inside and outside the Union.

The dominant perception in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina is that international companies are using weak governance structures to avoid scrutiny in mining. Since the EU is joining the global competition for raw materials late compared to other players, it must boost its competitive advantages. As highlighted by the discussions in Brussels, given the Critical Raw Material Act’s largely administrative approach and lack of transparent oversight, the EU risks being perceived as another transactional power that overlooks local interests.