A joint investigation by German magazine Der Spiegel and investigative journalism network BIRN has uncovered an interesting connection between the German government and Serbia's autocratic president, Aleksandar Vučić. According to leaked documents from the German Ministry of Economy, Germany is funding a close German adviser working inside the presidential palace in Belgrade with its taxpayers' money, in order to secure access for the German car industry to the Jadran Valley, one of the largest lithium reserves in Europe.
The 49-year-old adviser is called Jörg Heeskens. According to “Der Spiegel”, he is the only presidential adviser that the German government finances abroad. Heeskens has official agreements, a private office and staff in the Serbian president’s cabinet. Thanks to Heeskens’s engagement, German companies such as Leoni, Continental and Brose have opened production lines in Serbia. According to documents, this partnership has cost around 1.3 million euros so far and has been extended by the current government in Berlin until December 2026.
The research notes that in the previous German government, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economics Minister Robert Habeck proclaimed a “values-based foreign policy,” but Habeck also extended the contract to Jörg Heeskens. Germany’s interest in securing lithium was strong, despite massive protests in Serbia against the project.
The relationship between Vučić and his German advisor is so close that the Serbian president himself has publicly stated: "I call him 'my Swabian' (my German), while he calls me 'my wild Serb'." Heeskens, according to "Der Spiegel," has purchased an apartment in the controversial "Belgrade Waterfront" project, which the Serbian opposition sees as a symbol of the regime's corruption.
Heeskens hails from the Black Forest region of Germany and studied political science in Freiburg. He has a long career linked to the Balkans, where he first started working in 2009 as an advisor for the German state organization GIZ in Subotica and then at the Ministry of Economy in Belgrade. His close cooperation with Aleksandar Vučić began at least as early as April 2014, when the latter took over as prime minister, and has continued uninterrupted for more than 10 years, even after Vučić was elected president. During this time, Heeskens has openly and publicly defended the Serbian autocrat, declaring in debates that millions of Serbs do not vote for Vučić because of the influence of television, but because their lives have improved.
German efforts to secure lithium from Serbia reached a climax in July 2024, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz traveled to Belgrade to sign a mine deal with mining giant Rio Tinto. But the move sparked massive protests in Serbia. Citizens, backed by environmentalists and the opposition, blocked roads over fears that lithium mining would poison the soil and water. Anger grew even more in November 2024, after the tragic roof collapse at the Novi Sad train station, killing 16 people, turning the protests into a nationwide movement against Vučić’s corruption.
To quell the revolt, the German Development Ministry even allocated 4.9 million euros to help improve the project's image through media campaigns, but without success. Due to great pressure and fear of losing the upcoming elections, where Vučić aims to become prime minister since he can no longer run as president, the company "Rio Tinto" was forced to suspend the project in November 2025.
Germany is currently at a diplomatic crossroads: to have another chance at Serbian lithium, it must hope that autocrat Vučić remains in power, after the opposition has promised to legally ban the mine, Der Spiegel reports. Meanwhile, Vučić himself has begun to look for other partners. He recently visited China, securing around 1 billion euros in new direct investment and openly criticizing the European Union for trying to dictate the direction of Serbian diplomacy.
Economic cooperation between Germany and Serbia has seen extraordinary growth. The volume of bilateral trade has doubled, exceeding 10 billion euros per year, making Germany Serbia's main trading partner. This expansion has led to the creation of more than 80 jobs through the factories of major German investors, especially from the automotive and spare parts industries such as Continental, Leoni, Brose, Boysen, as well as the plumbing giant Hansgrohe, which have been attracted by state subsidies, customs facilities and low labor costs, with an average salary of around 780 euros per month.
