On Sunday, 30 January, Hundreds of people rallied in Serbia to draw the attention of the government authorities on the country’s air pollution. They demand to take action in order to improve the air quality of the country.
The environmental Protest was held in central Belgrade, and gatherings were organized to promote environmental awareness across the country.
Much of Western Balkan countries, including Serbia, face multiple environmental issues that have been neglected for decades.
They forced the authorities to improve poor environmental arrangements, including waste management, low air quality and polluted rivers. They request to collaborate with Rio Tinto company to scrap a project for lithium mining in western Serbia.
Organizers said breathing in such an inconvenient air condition can cause fatal diseases, and they demand the government to inform the citizens about the air quality index on national TV.
One of the event organizers said Serbia has a theatrical problem with air pollution; Europe has the highest poor air quality globally.
While marching towards the government headquarters, small children to elders participated in the Protest, in which they also waved banners reading “Stop air pollution!” or “You are suffocating us!”
Environment experts say the poor air quality in Belgrade has increased from using low-quality coal at the nearby power plants. Thousands of polluting old cars in the Capital and older systems for heating homes have devasted the country’s air condition.
Serbia must fix its environmental troubles before it can join the European.
