In the end it only matters if they have more power then justice. If a country is very corrupt probably they are more powerful.
Discussion
The biggest players in EU are helping the mining company and corrupt Serbian government get all the permits. Europe wants Lithium and they will look away when it comes to what is "justified". For them, sacrificing a village or two and polluting the environment is justifiable, to be self sustainable with Lithium and other minerals.
I did not read into this. But in general the permits are given by the state. So it depends most on the effectivenes of the state insuring the rights of its people. So in this case Serbia.