Junkovac

Junkovac exists because the Kolubara lignite basin contains Serbia's largest accessible energy reserve. The village emerged on terrain that would prove geologically treacherous—sitting atop coal seams that RB Kolubara, the state mining company, has extracted from 14 successive pits since the 20th century. What began as agricultural settlement became sacrifice zone.

The relationship between village and mine exemplifies parasitic extraction. In May 2013, overburden from Field B collapsed, triggering a landslide that destroyed seven houses. Illegal dumping of mining waste at the Junkovac site threatened properties and lives for years. In 2014, CEKOR (Centre for Ecology and Sustainable Development) pressed charges against Kolubara for endangering public safety. The village of Sakulja was forcibly resettled in 1984; its territory was absorbed into Junkovac in 2019—one sacrifice zone expanding to encompass another.

Despite these pressures, approximately 834 residents remain. The mine provides water infrastructure—Junkovac's water plant contributed 258,832 cubic meters to local supply—creating dependency on the very entity threatening habitability. This represents a hostage ecology: residents cannot leave without abandoning property, cannot stay without accepting existential risk.

Serbia's coal dependence faces mounting pressure. EU accession negotiations require coal phase-out commitments; climate financing increasingly bypasses fossil fuel regions. In 2026, Junkovac's trajectory depends on whether 'just transition' programs materialize—offering retraining, relocation support, and alternative employment—or whether the village continues as an externality of energy policy, its remaining residents absorbing costs that electricity consumers in Belgrade never see on their bills.