Stano: Bridges usually unite people, but unfortunately, the Ibër Bridge is an explosive issue!

The Ibër Bridge has become a major topic of discussion in recent days.

This is due to the Kosovo Government’s announcement of its opening for vehicles.

However, the government’s idea has not been supported by Kosovo’s international partners (the Quint and the EU).

EU Commission Spokesman Peter Stano, while acknowledging that bridges are meant to unite people, stated that the Ibër Bridge is “an explosive and problematic issue.” Therefore, he said, it needs to be resolved through dialogue.

“Bridges usually unite people. Unfortunately, the situation we have in northern Kosovo and in Mitrovica is the result of a number of difficult political circumstances. That is why we have always said that it is an explosive issue, a problematic issue, and like all problematic issues, it needs to be resolved through dialogue. Because if you have a problem, then you solve it through dialogue, not through unilateral decisions,” Stano said in an interview with Serbian media outlet N1.

He mentioned that last week, all of Kosovo’s friends (the European Union, the Quint) went to Prime Minister Albin Kurti and told him: “Don’t do this, don’t make unilateral moves, don’t open the bridge.”

“But he seems determined to do this. That’s why we said, ‘no, this will have very negative effects.’ We ask the authorities to prevent and avoid steps that would lead to confrontations and further escalation. Because it hurts the people on the ground, and it hurts you too, because Kosovo is under EU measures and under some U.S. measures due to repeated and proven actions that lead to escalation.”

“It doesn’t help anyone; on the contrary, it has a very negative impact on a large number of people,” Stano said.

Furthermore, he said that the European Union is not an intervention force.

“We do not want to impose things on our partners that the people, the local population, might consider interference in internal affairs. That is precisely why we work as mediators in dialogue. A mediator is like a good teacher, who tries to get two stubborn students to reach some result. In this case, for them to start treating each other normally.”

“We cannot impose these things on them. If they don’t want it – sorry. They will not progress but will punish themselves and punish their people and will not get closer to the EU. Because they themselves said: ‘We want to be part of your European club.’ Then the European Union said: ‘Alright. These are the conditions, and please fulfill them. If you don’t fulfill them, you won’t be part of the club.’”

“Serbia and Kosovo have said they want to join. Then you have to follow the rules, and the rules say that good neighborly relations are required. If you don’t have them, then you need to work on reconciliation and normalization. We will help. And we continue to help because we believe it can work. It worked before with other members who are now in the EU, but who previously fought in much more brutal wars than the one between Serbs and Kosovars. And we succeeded. But this requires courage, maturity, and political leadership, which would achieve the necessary compromise. This is what we are trying to help both sides achieve. But we will not impose it on them. Because if they don’t want it, then we cannot want reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia more than Kosovo and Serbia and their leaders want it. That’s why we can only help and advise, but we cannot force or compel them to do it,” said the EU spokesperson.

Regarding the recent developments in the north, such as the closure of illegal Serbian Post Office points, Stano said that “the problem we increasingly see in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is that we are constantly in crisis mode, in crisis resolution mode.”

And this, according to him, is not good. “Because we hoped at the beginning of this mandate, when we initiated the continuation of the dialogue, that we would make progress, that we would be able to help Kosovo and Serbia make progress in normalization. Unfortunately, we see more and more unilateral moves and uncoordinated actions. Unfortunately, most of them come from the administration in Pristina. The raids, namely the closure of eight branches of the Serbian post in northern Kosovo, are very regrettable and are a violation of the dialogue agreement: unilateral, uncoordinated, with a negative impact on the local population. Therefore, we ask the authorities to reconsider their decision and return to the dialogue with constructive ideas on how to solve the problem they have. While they talk about their reasons for dealing with the problem through such actions. We want to see engagement and dialogue instead of unilateral actions,” said Peter Stano.