Petar Petković has once again written to the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Peter Sørensen, claiming that Belgrade is “deeply concerned” by the EU’s statement that the conditions for reopening the main bridge over the Ibër River have been met.
Instead of treating the reopening of the bridge as an issue of freedom of movement and the normal functioning of a public space, Petković has once again resorted to the familiar narrative of “endangering Serbs,” claiming that reopening the bridge would increase insecurity and tensions in the north.
According to Petković, the conditions for reopening the bridge have not been met and the security situation is unsuitable. But the rhetoric is familiar: whenever Kosovo seeks to implement rules and ensure the normal functioning of its territory, Belgrade once again presents itself as the “protector” of Serbs and portrays every decision by Kosovo’s institutions as a threat.
Petković is demanding that any decision be conditioned on “security guarantees” and “security assessments,” portraying the reopening of the bridge as a potential danger while overlooking the fact that freedom of movement and the normal functioning of the bridge should apply to all citizens, rather than being turned into a political instrument.
Once again, Belgrade is using the same formula: raise the alarm, portray the Serb community as being “under threat,” and attempt to turn an issue of freedom of movement into another political crisis.
And that is precisely the problem: constant victimhood cannot replace dialogue, while fear cannot be used indefinitely as a veto against the normal functioning of Kosovo.
