E fundit!

09:06 CRIME

Shooting in Shkodra/ 2 people arrested

The Crime Investigation Specialists of the Shkodra Police ...

What is expected from Scholz's visit to Belgrade?

2024-07-19 08:54:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The German public was somewhat surprised when on Wednesday morning, federal government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced that German Chancellor Olaf Scholzdo will meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic later this week in Belgrade. Such short notice of the chancellor's international travel is very unusual, travel and activities are coordinated weeks in advance of the trip.

The real reason for Scholz's visit

The announcement states that Scholz will discuss "bilateral relations" with Aleksandar Vu?i?, as well as issues related to "European and international politics". So the information is very general. No word on the recent cooling of relations between Berlin and Belgrade over the UN resolution on Srebrenica, which was largely initiated by Germany and served Vu?i?'s multiple attacks on Berlin, which went as far as talking for a "paradox". Vucic and Serbia even said that it is very paradoxical that Germany talks about genocide, "after the First and Second World War".

There are big problems in the relations between them also because of the frozen process in the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, which is not going well, despite the commitment of Germany. There are also other very controversial topics, such as Serbia's relationship with Russia.

However, this unexpected visit shows that Belgrade and Berlin do not want to dig into open wounds, but want to talk about bilateral relations. "Both statesmen, after bilateral talks, will participate in the 'Critical Raw Materials Summit'. Among the participants will be the vice president of the European Commission, Marosh Shefçovi?, as well as representatives of the economy. As part of the summit, Serbia will sign a memorandum of understanding with the European Union for a strategic partnership regarding sustainable raw materials, battery supply chains for electric cars," it was announced. The conference in Belgrade was officially named "Serbia, its role in the green future of the world."

Kuban: "Serbia solves the problems"

Asked by DW, representatives of the parties represented in the Bundestag have mixed reactions to the news of Scholz's announced short-term trip to Belgrade to secure important raw materials. The representative of the parliamentary group of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) for Serbia, Tilman Kuban, who recently visited Belgrade, is satisfied with this initiative. As a representative of the parliamentary opposition, he obviously criticized the German chancellor because, he says, "he has ignored the countries of the Western Balkans for a long time". But he adds that it is good that he is now taking the initiative again "in the interest of the economy German".

"With this project, Serbia shows that it wants to solve problems in Europe, not create them. Anyone who wants to expand the use of renewable energy resources and more electromobility should not hinder the use of lithium. Because we we Europeans can assert ourselves in the geopolitical competition only with our raw materials", Kuban emphasized to DW.

Juratovic: Vucic will sell the deal as a victory over Germany

Liberal Party (FDP) parliamentary committee member for European affairs Thomas Hacker is less euphoric than his Christian Democrat colleague. "We will carefully monitor Chancellor Scholz's planned trip to Serbia. In the past, President Vucic has repeatedly presented himself as a partner of Mr. Orban and Mr. Putin, thereby jeopardizing sustainable rapprochement with the European Union," Hacker told DW. He noted the worsening of the situation with the state of democracy in Serbia, as well as the frozen rapprochement process between Serbia and Kosovo. "The chancellor must clearly address these issues during his trip. The important economic cooperation does not dare to overshadow the political cooperation", concluded the representative of the FDP, the party in power which is normally seen as the defender of the interests of the economy.

The most critical of Scholz's trip to Belgrade is Josip Juratovic, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and an expert on the situation in Southeast Europe. "Vucic will likely sell this deal in Serbia, the old-fashioned way, as his great political victory over Germany. In reality, however, it is a shame for his politics in Serbia that to avoid pressure from the street, he has to to provide standards from abroad", Juratovic said in a statement that was also reported by other media.

Juratovi? believes that for this speed in taking the initiative, the fact that Vu?i? has already "put the Chinese into the game" should be thanked. "It is clear that the EU cannot leave the exploitation of lithium in Serbia to Chinese standards. To guarantee jobs in Germany and the EU, and at the same time to achieve the climate goals we have set ourselves, we must we provide resources outside the EU, but under the same ecological and social conditions", concluded Juratovi?.

The Lithium Treaty – an important step in rapprochement with the EU

The German media write that the German chancellor is traveling to the "friend of Putin and Orban", who has recently been "more or less isolated internationally" precisely because of his open friendship with the declared opponents of the EU. But for representatives of the economy, what is important is what Scholz will return home with: the contract for the supply of the most important raw material for the currently struggling auto industry.

Matthias Wechter, director of the international cooperation department of the Association of German Industrialists (BDI), believes that the signing of an agreement on raw materials between the EU and Serbia would be a very important step towards the goal of diversifying German industry and European. He cites data (backed by the company Rio Tinto) that 58,000 tons of lithium can be used annually in the Jadra valley, which would cover 17 percent of European needs.

Vechter specifically emphasizes why the agreement with Serbia would be a big plus for the European industry, above all, the automotive industry. "Until now, German industry has bought lithium, which is important for batteries, mainly from South America and Australia. The central problem is the dependence on China for the further processing of lithium. In this context, it is very welcome that a a large part of the further processing to be done directly in Serbia, and therefore in Europe".

One of the leaders of DUI believes that Serbia can also benefit politically from this economic agreement. "It would also be an important step for the rapprochement of Serbia with the European Union. Cooperation in the field of raw materials would be a strong signal", concludes Vechter. Aleksandar Vu?i? and Javier Milei

Anja Quiring, director of the Department for Southeast Europe at the German Economic Committee for Eastern Europe (Ost Ausschuss), in an interview for DW, expresses the hope that the chancellor will use this visit to deepen political relations and accelerate the process of rapprochement with the European Union , so it will be a kind of preparation for the Berlin Process summit.

"We assume that the chancellor will also prepare a summit in his talks in Belgrade and will above all emphasize the importance of regional cooperation for further economic development," says Quiring. She added that in addition to bilateral relations, mutual cooperation between the countries of the region is also important, and this is something that the Berlin Process has been working on for ten years.

In an interview with the German daily "Handelsblat", Vucic said that China will not have access to Serbian lithium. "We are loyal to Europe", said the president of Serbia.

Chancellor Scholz has already indicated once, a few weeks ago, that he is ready to step over his shadow and accept talks with controversial politicians when it comes to securing lithium for the auto industry. Finally, he also hosted the new president of Argentina, Javier Milea, in Berlin. Both Argentina and Serbia have large deposits of this precious metal./ DW