BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Environmental protesters blocked roads in Serbia for the third weekend in a row to reject plans to mine lithium, despite an offer from the country’s populist government to defuse the demonstrations by agreeing to the organizers’ key demands.

Several thousand people braved the rain and cold on Saturday to stop traffic in the capital Belgrade and other cities in the Balkans.

The protesters want the government to rule out any possibility for companies to initiate mining projects. Environmentalists argue that the extraction of lithium, a key component of electric car batteries, is causing enormous damage in mined areas.

Serbian authorities have withdrawn two key laws that activists said would help multinational mining company Rio Tinto open a mine in the lithium-rich west of the country. Fewer people turned up at the demonstration on Saturday compared to the previous two weekends, reflecting a disagreement among protestors about how to proceed.

“There will be no peace until lithium mining is banned and Rio Tinto is sent away from Serbia,” said Aleksandar Jovanovic, one of the organizers.

Serbia’s autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic called the ongoing protests “political” after the government abandoned two proposed laws, which included expropriation and referendum rules. Vucic said people would have a chance to express their preferences in the next election in April.

Serbia needs to address its environmental problems in order to become a member of the European Union. Vucic said he wanted the country to join the EU, but he also had close ties with Russia and China, including Chinese investments in mines, factories and infrastructure.

Environmental problems have recently come into focus in Serbia and other Balkan countries due to the accumulated problems of air and water pollution. The protesters argue that the authorities favor the interests of foreign investors over the environment.

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