Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on Sunday that he expects the main bridge over the Iber River in Kosovo to open on August 14 or 15, and also anticipates the installation of new Serbian leaders in the region by foreign forces, without providing any evidence.
He made these comments as Kosovo authorities announced that the main bridge over the Iber—dividing southern Mitrovica with a majority Albanian population from northern Mitrovica with a majority Serbian population—should be fully opened to traffic.
Currently, the bridge is open to pedestrians but not to vehicles, and it is patrolled by Italian carabinieri from the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR.
The Serbian President claimed that the new Serbian figures, who he alleges will be installed in Kosovo, “will portray themselves as heroes even though they are not, and will attempt to separate them from Belgrade” and that they will respond to Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
“Let me tell you right away that it will not work,” Vučić said at a press conference.
The largest Serbian political party in Kosovo is the Serbian List, which enjoys official support from Belgrade.
Representatives of the QUINT countries in Kosovo have publicly stated that they do not support the opening of the bridge at this time.
The QUINT countries are: the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and France.
KFOR has said several times in recent days that it will not hesitate to act if it observes actions near the bridge that could threaten the safety of citizens.
Kosovo authorities have begun inspections for the opening of the bridge and earlier this week contracted a company to assess the bridge’s load-bearing capacity before opening it to vehicle traffic.
Kosovo and Serbia agreed to open the bridge initially in 2015, and then in 2016, as part of the dialogue mediated by the European Union.
The opening has been delayed several times, and the international factor seeks to make this issue a topic of dialogue once again.
