Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, recently announced the government’s intention to open the main bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica.
However, NATO’s military mission in Kosovo, KFOR, says any decision to open it should be made within the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, mediated by the European Union.
KFOR stated that NATO supports this dialogue and is there to contribute to a safe environment for all citizens of Kosovo – at all times and impartially.
“This includes continuous presence on the bridge in Mitrovica and regular patrols in the surrounding area,” said KFOR.
The Government of Kosovo believes that opening the bridge would ensure freedom of movement for everyone, while Serbia views this issue as a “provocation.”
On July 17, the Prime Minister of Kosovo raised the issue of its opening in a meeting with the ambassadors of the QUINT countries and the head of the EU Office in Kosovo, after which he stated that “no one can say this is not a good and correct thing.”
The British Embassy in Kosovo said that its country’s position is that the bridge in Mitrovica should be opened in accordance with relevant agreements reached within the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
“We are open to discussions with the Government of Kosovo on how this can be achieved,” the response said.
Political analyst and professor Sulejman Mehazi also commented on this issue.
He says that the Ibar Bridge and Mitrovica are entirely under the administration of Kosovo.
According to him, the era of the Berlin Wall division has passed, and therefore, he adds, it is illogical for the Ibar Bridge to divide the city of Mitrovica in two.
“Mitrovica is within Kosovo in the north, south, east, and west, and for this city, neither Brussels nor Belgrade is consulted, but the government of Kosovo. The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue is about mutual recognition of the two states and not about local political issues such as the Ibar Bridge, as the closure of the Ibar Bridge concerns the citizens of this city, the prefecture of Mitrovica, and the government,” says Mehazi.
The professor asserts that the problem of the Ibar Bridge is not an international issue for Brussels and the EU to deal with, but rather a problem of the citizens of Mitrovica.
“Only an agreement between the Albanian-Serbian prefectures of Mitrovica would resolve the opening of the Ibar Bridge. If there is no agreement from the Serbian citizens of North Mitrovica, then the institutions of Kosovo must legally intervene without hesitation to resolve this apartheid-like black bridge that hinders the development of Kosovo’s constitution,” concludes Professor Sulejman Mehazi.
