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The deal reached earlier this month on “critical raw materials" could reduce Europe’s dependency on China and push Serbia, which has close ties to Russia and China, closer to the EU. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the summit in Belgrade.

The deal, however, has been fiercely criticized by environmentalists and opposition groups in Serbia who argue it would cause irreversible damage to the environment while bringing little benefit to its citizens.

The biggest lithium reserve in Serbia lies in a western valley that is rich in fertile land and water. Multinational Rio Tinto company had started an exploration project in the area several years ago which sparked huge opposition, forcing its suspension.

Earlier this month, however, Serbia’s constitutional court overturned the government to cancel a $2.4 billion mining project launched by the British-Australian mining company in the Jadar valley, paving the way for its revival.

The Serbian government's the excavation plans came after thousands of protesters in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia blocked major roads and bridges in 2021 to oppose Rio Tinto. Those were the biggest challenge yet to the increasingly autocratic rule of Serbian .

Vucic has said that any excavation would not start before 2028 and that the government would seek firm environmental guarantees before allowing the digging. Some government officials have hinted a referendum on the issue could also be held.

Protesters who gathered on Monday in Serbian towns said they did not trust the government and would not allow the excavations to go ahead.

“They have usurped our rivers, our forests,� said activist Nebojsa Kovandzic from the town of Kraljevo. “Everything they (government) do they do for their own interests and never in the interest of us, citizens.� The crowd in Kraljevo chanted ‘thieves, thieves.’

In Sabac, protesters waved Serbian flags and held a march through the town after the rally.