(19 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belgrade – 19 July 2024
1. EU and Serbian delegations in meeting
2. Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic during meeting
3. Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz during meeting
4. Delegations in meeting
5. Tracking shot of Vucic and Scholz arriving at signing and news conference
6. Various of Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of European Commission, left, and Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, Serbian minister of mining and energy, signing papers, shaking hands
7. Scholz (left) Vucic (centre) and Sefcovic (right) during news conference
8. SOUNDBITE (German) Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor:
“This is an important European project, and it’s necessary for Europe to remain sovereign in a changing world and not be dependent on others, which is why new sources of raw materials should be discovered.”
9. Close of video camera
10. SOUNDBITE (German) Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor:
“I am glad the decision was made. I admit, the decision required courage, but it was made at the right moment.”
11. Wide of news conference
12. SOUNDBITE (German) Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor:
“This is a project that is good because it will be developed in an environmentally compatible way and is good because it creates economic activity and prosperity where world history made it possible to bury raw material in the earth, and we are now extracting it.”
13. Close of video camera
14. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian President:
“I am proud and this day fills me with great hope for our country. This is important for Europe, it’s important for Germany, important for all, but for us in Serbia probably the most important. This for us will be a turning point, big change, and I’d say a quantum leap into the future.”
15. Leaders during news conference
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Maros Sefcovic, European Commission Vice-President:
“(We need)…To make sure this project will be executed with the highest possible environmental European standards, and we have that expertise in the Commission, we have that expertise in Germany.”
17. Various of leaders taking group photo
18. Scholz, Vucic and leaders leaving
STORYLINE:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised a tentative European Union deal signed on Friday with Serbia that paves the way for the disputed excavation of lithium, a mega project that could reduce Europe’s dependency on China but one that has been fiercely criticised by environmentalists and opposition groups.
Scholz attended a “critical raw materials summit” in the Serbian capital where a memorandum of understanding between the EU and Serbia’s government on a “strategic partnership” on sustainable raw materials, battery supply chains and electric vehicles was signed.
He said after the signing ceremony that “this is an important European project,” adding that it is necessary for Europe “to remain sovereign in a changing world and not be dependent on others, which is why new sources of raw materials should be discovered.”
“I’m glad the decision was made. I admit, this decision required courage, but it was made at the right moment,” Scholz said.
Germany, the largest carmaker in Europe, is seeking to secure lithium for its electric vehicle makers as the European Union struggles to reduce its dependence on imports from China. Lithium is a critical substance in making batteries for electric vehicles
China currently dominates the supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.
Heavy police presence prevented groups of protesters from coming closer to today’s event.
AP Video shot by Marko Drobnjakovic
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