In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
+11 In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
A construction site sign is seen on the ground in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 3, 2024. Mining in Krivelj started in the 1970s, and even though standards have since improved, production has quadrupled since it was taken over in 2018 by China's Zijin Mining. "The site suffered from severe direct emissions of gases and wastewater, resulting in highly polluted surroundings including air, rivers, and soil," Zijin said in a statement to Reuters. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
A destroyed house is seen near an open-pit copper mine, run by a subsidiary of China's Zijin Mining, near to the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. Zijin has already relocated many of the villagers, but the majority of the population in Krivelj are Vlachs - Orthodox Christians who have preserved their own language and customs through centuries and want to move as one. "We want that new village to be called Krivelj as well. Of course there will be no river there, but we want to move the church, the library and the school," said Jasna Tomic, one of the two dozen women protesting against the mine. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Aleksa Radonic, 80, who is a retired teacher, covers his mouth with his scarf in the village of Krivelj, April 4, 2024. Two dozen women take shifts day and night on a small bridge in Krivelj to protest against the mine, run by a subsidiary of China's Zijin Mining, that dominates the surrounding countryside and encroaches on their homes. "We are forced to block the road, because we are poisoned, everything is polluted, we can't grow vegetables anymore," said Vukosava Radivojevic, 78, one of the women protesting . "We just want to be safe, we earned that right." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Debica Kostandinovic, 58, who is a housewife, sits at a road blockade in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 3, 2024. Two dozen women take shifts day and night on a small bridge in Krivelj to protest against the mine, run by a subsidiary of China's Zijin Mining, that dominates the surrounding countryside and encroaches on their homes. "We've spent years building our village, and with the money they (Zijin company) are offering us for our houses, we can't buy a single apartment," said Kostandinovic. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Two women wait at a bus stop, where obituaries are taped up behind them, in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 3, 2024. Zijin has already relocated many of the villagers, but the majority of the population in Krivelj are Vlachs - Orthodox Christians who have preserved their own language and customs through centuries and want to move as one. "We want that new village to be called Krivelj as well. Of course there will be no river there, but we want to move the church, the library and the school," said Jasna Tomic, one of the two dozen women protesting against the mine. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
A cross at a cemetery is seen in front of tailings, waste materials left over after a mineral is extracted from ore, at the Zmajevo settlement near the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 2, 2024. Krivelj's landscape is scarred by piles of mine waste, lines of orange trucks snaking up the brown valley and cracked houses from the tremors of the underground explosions. "One day I was standing in the centre of the village, and I kept seeing truck after truck driving through. The small bridge was swinging under their weight," said Vukosava Radivojevic, 78, who is one of two dozen women taking shifts day and night to protest against the mine. "Then I told my granddaughter something needs to be done." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Two girls look out from the doorway of their house at the Zmajevo settlement near the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. Krivelj's landscape is scarred by piles of mine waste, lines of orange trucks snaking up the brown valley and cracked houses from the tremors of the underground explosions. "One day I was standing in the centre of the village, and I kept seeing truck after truck driving through. The small bridge was swinging under their weight," said Vukosava Radivojevic, 78, who is one of two dozen women taking shifts day and night to protest against the mine. "Then I told my granddaughter something needs to be done." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Framed pictures of soldiers returned from World War I and of relatives hang on the wall of an old house owned by Tomic family in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. Zijin has already relocated many of the villagers, but the majority of the population in Krivelj are Vlachs - Orthodox Christians who have preserved their own language and customs through centuries and want to move as one. "We want that new village to be called Krivelj as well. Of course there will be no river there, but we want to move the church, the library and the school," said Jasna Tomic, one of the two dozen women protesting against the mine. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Children play in front of tailings, waste materials left after a mineral is extracted from ore, at the Zmajevo settlement near the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. Krivelj's landscape is scarred by piles of mine waste, lines of orange trucks snaking up the brown valley and cracked houses from the tremors of the underground explosions. "One day I was standing in the centre of the village, and I kept seeing truck after truck driving through. The small bridge was swinging under their weight," said Vukosava Radivojevic, 78, who is one of two dozen women taking shifts day and night to protest against the mine. "Then I told my granddaughter something needs to be done." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
The mining town of Bor is seen from a hill near the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 3, 2024. Krivelj's landscape is scarred by piles of mine waste, lines of orange trucks snaking up the brown valley and cracked houses from the tremors of the underground explosions. "One day I was standing in the centre of the village, and I kept seeing truck after truck driving through. The small bridge was swinging under their weight," said Vukosava Radivojevic, 78, who is one of two dozen women taking shifts day and night to protest against the mine. "Then I told my granddaughter something needs to be done." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Teodora Tomic, 22, who is a student, poses for a picture inside a church in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. "We want to show the Zijin company that we still exist," said Tomic during an interview with Reuters. "I am hoping for a new village somewhere without any influence from the mine." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Nurse Tamara Novakovic, 38, raises her fist as she poses for a picture by a barricade in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. "I was born here, my kids were born here, they go to school here," said Novakovic during an interview with Reuters. "The village of Krivelj must continue to live, we can be relocated only with the following infrastructure, school, church..." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Stana Jorgovanovic, 79, who is a housewife, poses for a picture inside a tent on a barricade, in the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 3, 2024. "We are defending our village here and the houses where we were born," said Jorgovanovic during an interview with Reuters. "I feel so sorry about our beautiful village, I am not sure I will survive the move." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Deana Jovanovic, 40, who is an Anthropology professor, poses for a picture in front of the mining town of Bor, just outside the village of Krivelj, Serbia, April 4, 2024. "I expect that the heroines of the village will get what they are fighting for: Systematic support from the government and the Zijin company which could provide them life with dignity," said Jovanovic during an interview with Reuters. "I hope they will be able to plan their own future together." REUTERS/Marko Djurica
KRIVELJ, SERBIA—Before dawn, 78-year-old Vukosava Radivojevic prepared breakfast for her husband then walked into her village in eastern Serbia to guard a barricade stopping trucks entering an open-pit copper mine that residents say is contaminating local land and water.
Radivojevic is one of two dozen women who since January took shifts day and night on a small bridge in Krivelj to protest against the mine, run by a subsidiary of China’s Zijin Mining, that dominates the surrounding countryside and encroaches on their homes.
While their husbands work, the women are fighting to persuade the company to relocate their village away from what they describe as the incessant din, shaking and pollution.
Zijin has already relocated many of the villagers. But the majority of those who remain are Vlachs—Orthodox Christians who have preserved their own language and customs through centuries. They want to move as one.
“We are forced to block the road, because we are poisoned, everything is polluted, we can’t grow vegetables anymore,” Radivojevic said this month as she stood at the blockade.
“We just want to be safe, we earned that right.”
Zijin’s subsidiary, Serbia Zijin Copper, acknowledged the problems, which it said it inherited from a local company when it took over operations in 2018.
According to a study commissioned by the company and published in December, Krivelj’s small river is polluted with heavy metals. Increased quantities of lead, arsenic and cadmium were found in the soil.
“The site suffered from severe direct emissions of gases and wastewater, resulting in highly polluted surroundings including air, rivers, and soil,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
It said it has invested over $100 million to reduce the environmental impact, including improving wastewater recycling.
Zijin stated it is “dedicated to formulating relocation plans with transparency and fairness” and is in contact with all parties involved. A local official said they hoped the move would be done by the end of 2025.
This week, Zijin agreed to stop driving large trucks through the village, community leader Jasna Tomic said, in a sign the women have had some success. Residents temporarily lifted the blockade to allow the company to complete some work.
The fight for a satisfactory relocation continues.
Taking a stand
Krivelj used to be a lively village surrounded by green hills. Every year it hosted a fair that attracted visitors from neighboring villages.
Then mining began in the 1970s, when Serbia was still part of Yugoslavia. The concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air became so high that it burned holes in women’s nylon tights, locals said.
Standards have since improved, but production has quadrupled since Zijin took over, meaning more trucks and more dust, the residents said.
The landscape is scarred by piles of mine waste. Lines of orange trucks snake up the brown valley. The walls of houses are cracked from tremors caused by underground explosions, residents said.
The number of school children has dropped by two-thirds, retired teacher Aleksa Radonjic said, as young families have moved away. The fair stopped years ago.
The barricade, erected in January, became a symbol of Krivelj’s defiance. Over time it turned into a second home for the women: the inside was heated by a wood stove and had a television. Neighbors stopped by with snacks and coffee. Sometimes dogs kept them company.
“One day I was standing in the center of the village, and I kept seeing truck after truck driving through. The small bridge was swinging under their weight,” Radivojevic said.
“And then I told my granddaughter, something needs to be done.”
Housewife Marija Bufanovic, 53, was among the first to build the barricade.
“There is no life here,” she said. “We want to move together.”
Meanwhile, villagers discuss where they may end up. The company has proposed an area near another Zijin mine, said community leader Tomic.
“We want that new village to be called Krivelj as well. Of course there will be no river there, but we want to move the church, the library and the school.” —REUTERS
