Rupture Blog

“First they try to make us poor, and then they try to buy us with cheap labour”. Ecodefense against mining in East Serbia

“First they try to make us poor, and then they try to buy us with cheap labour”. Ecodefense against mining in East Serbia

The “Zbor network”, a transnational collaboration of Balkan and West European activists has organized the first ever anti-mining camp in September 2024. Named after partisan assemblies in former Yugoslavia, Zbor draws on a rich history of Balkan solidarity to counter resource extractivism. Their activism extends beyond Serbia, drawing connections between local struggles and a broader critique of capitalist extractivism across the former Yugoslavia—a region where solidarity has long been a transnational endeavor, from the partisan resistance to the non-aligned movement. The following interview is with two environmental activists, “Big Bear” and “Ris” provides an account of the current situation, recalling fear, hopes, and resistance strategies.

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