Brnabić: They hit where it's most sensitive

The Speaker of the Assembly, Ana Brnabić, referred to the visit of President Vučić to Ljubovija and to the opposition's criticisms related to the visit itself.

Also, Brnabić commented on the professor's statement on N1 that Rio Tinto is the Rolls Royce of mining.

"It's true, I would say that after that incredible meeting of Vučić with the citizens in Mali Zvornik, which lasted over four hours, this meeting in Ljubovija, where Vučić also insisted that not only Rio Tinto, but the general director of Rio Tindo should come and answer as many hours as it takes in front of the cameras, live, in front of the people.

"We also saw what is interesting that the most difficult and direct questions were asked by President Aleksandar Vučić. He said: how will you protect our waters? Because our waters are the most important to us. How did you solve the problem of the landfill? What kind of foils will it be? What have been done additionally, because a few years ago I told you that we will not allow the Jalovište landfill to be next to the river, and that we are not the happiest with liquid waste''.

''Then, we heard that at the insistence of Vučić, Rio Tinto invested another hundred million euros in an additional solution and a new technology so that the Jalovište is solid and not in a liquid state so that our rivers are not polluted," Brnabić pointed out.

"Also important questions, are people going to be able to continue farming? Are there going to be any problems? And the topic of sulfuric acid, explain to us? So he had the most direct questions and he was getting answers from them. And that's what hurts the opposition, and that is that at one point even those citizens who participated in the protests started asking Rio Tinto to answer the questions because the president asked them," said the Speaker of the Assembly.

"Then again, you saw two important things. First, those who organized the protests did not come. They did not come when Vučić was in Nedeljice, nor when he was in Mali Zvornik, nor when he was in Ljubovija. They did not come to say in the face of President Vučić, why are you inviting people to protest and block the railways, to block the Belgrade-Novi Sad expressway? You didn't come to the meeting with Vučić, who sat there for over eight hours?", she added.

"They have nothing to ask, they have no questions for which Aleksandar Vučić does not have an answer. They have no questions for Rio Tinto. You saw how many people were there and asked serious questions to Rio Tinto, by God, Rio Tinto was also sweating. Rio Tinto's CEO was especially sweating at Vučić's questions and to his attitude. People without these three things, water and landfills and to fully understand the fourth thing, agriculture, you have 22 months extra, but we will struggle, Serbia will not let it go. Aleksandar Vučić is the one who said that we will not allow the export of raw materials. There was no talk of us being a raw material base, Aleksandar Vučić said we will not be a raw material base, but producers," continued Brnabić.

"There are two big problems for people who organize protests. First, on what basis are they now going to call people to the street? People from Užice and Prijepolje came to Ljubovija and waited for five hours. I am primarily referring to the organizer of the protest from Krupanj, such as Štefika, who was employed in Srbijašume, but there were no such people as "Ne damo Jadar". There were no Kokanović, Petković'', she said, then continued:

"The other thing that bothers the people who are financing the campaign against Rio Tinto is that this is an organized campaign that God knows how many millions it costs. Tens and hundreds of millions of euros. Which is well organized, hats off to how it was carried out. A campaign of disinformation and a campaign of spreading lies and fake news with the aim of destabilizing Serbia."

"The people behind this campaign do not shy away from attacking people's most sensitive emotions, people's fear, fear for their children, fear for their lives. Disinformation is being spread here about the things that people care about the most. At that meeting of the president with the citizens, we could hear that we can have a huge economic benefit, but I will not talk about it until we know that every one of us is safe," Brnabić pointed out.