The opening bridge in Mitrovica: For some “the extent of”, for others “the smart thing”

At the North Mitrovica municipality Assembly session on 31 May, during discussions on the various “point”, the issue of implementing the decision to open the main bridge over the Iber River for traffic is expected to be discussed.

So North Mitrovica Assembly Speaker Nedzad Uglan told Radio Europe free.

According to him, it will be a “security situation for the opening of the” bridge, which since 1999 divides Mitrovica in the southern, inhabited by Albanian majority, and in the northern, inhabited Serb majority.

The decision to open the bridge has been made in the North Mitrovica municipality's Assembly in April 2023, but has not yet been implemented.

Currently, the chairman of northern Mitrovica is Erden Attic, who comes from the Vetevendosje Movement évendosje party of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Uglanin says most municipal councilors, currently, are not for “the achievement of”, though last year, have supported the decision to open the main bridge for traffic.

“Tensions are already high... It is no longer up to the Municipal Assembly, depending on how the security bodies will operate”, Uglanin says.

According to him, it is important to create a “climate of peace and tolerance”, because citizens of North Mitrovica, out of all communities, “ka years living under tension”.

Tensions in northern Kosovo continue since Serbs left Kosovo institutions in November 2022.

In the following period, official Pristina has replaced members of police from the Serb community with members of other communities, mainly Albanian. Also, it has held local elections, which have been boycotted by Serbian citizens, which has enabled, then, Albanian candidates to take power.

Several crises and incidents later occurred, including the murder of an Albanian police officer by a group of armed Serbs in the village of Banjska in the north, as well as the discontent of the local population with the Kosovo authorities' decision to put the Serbian dinar out of use.

For the opening of the bridge in Mitrovica, Kosovo Deputy Director of the northern region Veton Elshani told television on Thursday.

He said the bridge on Iber “would open very quickly” and that it is being discussed with the superiors how to do it.

Elshani did not want to comment on this issue for Radio Free Europe, but said only that police in the northern region are there to implement the decisions of Kosovo institutions.

He also estimated that the security situation in northern Kosovo is “delicate”, but, according to him, much better if compared to the preliminary period.

Serbian List: Bridge cannot be opened without Serbs' consent

The Serbian list linked the bridge's eventual opening over Iber to the Government of Prime Minister Kurti.

This largest party of Serbs in Kosovo, which also enjoys official Belgrade's support, said through a media communique that the opening of the bridge in northern Mitrovica for vehicles, is “absolutely unnecessary, unacceptable and an escalating movement aimed at further destabilising the situation on the ground”.

According to her, such an act is not supported even by members of the Serb community, who are majority in northern Kosovo.

She also called on the international community that “told Kurti that opening the bridge cannot be done without the consent of Serbs living in northern Kosovo”.

Free Radio Europe asked the Government of Kosovo if the opening of the bridge in North Mitrovica is being reviewed at the level of central institutions, but received no answers.

What do citizens in the north and south of the Ibri Bridge say?

Members of the Serb and Albanian community from the north and south of Mitrovica share different views of the possibility of opening the main bridge over Iber.

For Serbs, such a step would lead to “the achievement of tensions”, while for Albanians it would contribute to co-existence and freedom of movement.

Vasa from North Mitrovica says the main bridge in the city does not make the “remain open by”, while the reason why she believes this is the bad security situation.

Some of those hot heads would pass. Let it remain a pedestrian area and as many”, Vasa says.

“Shouldn't be placed on fire”, Nemanja says, also from North Mitrovica. According to him, opening the bridge for trafficking would only contribute to increasing ethnic tensions.

On the other hand, Ismaili from South Mitrovica believes that “would be the wise thing” opening for the traffic of the main bridge over Iber.

“Let it be as before. Why would people try and go around? Let politics do its job, let the people live”, Ismaili says.

Feridja, who also lives on the south side of the bridge, believes that its opening to traffic would contribute to the approach of the Albanian and Serb communities.

For everyone to be satisfied, both Albanians and Serbs... just as we used to live before, she says.

EU: Bridge opening issue resolved with dialogue

The bridge of Ibrit or “Revisiting Bridge” has also been the subject of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia for normalising relations.

Both sides have agreed to open the bridge for circulation, but this has never been accomplished in practice. Only one side of it is open for pedestrians.

The EU office in Kosovo did not respond directly to Radio Europe's free questions if it is aware of plans to open the bridge for circulation and whether now is the right time for such a thing.

In response this issue has reportedly been the subject of two agreements reached by Kosovo and Serbia under dialogue, in 2015 and 2016, and that the bridge is still closed for circulation, despite EU efforts to implement all agreements reached.

It also points out that the bridge opening issue concerns the EU-brokered dialogue and, for this reason, all decisions should be made within the dialogue with the participation of the official delegations of Kosovo and Serbia.

“The EU continues to call on the parties to implement without delay all remaining agreements, which have been reached within the dialogue, including the Agreement on the Bridge without any precondition or interference with other issues. The EU, too, calls on all to refrain from any provocative actions, which could threaten sustainability on the ground”, says the EU Office for REL response.

In April last year, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, commenting on the Northern Mitrovica municipality's demand for the opening of the bridge over Iber, has said Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti, “wants conflicts at any cost”. Vuciq has offered no evidence for these claims.

The main bridge over Iber is also a symbol of the first barricades, the first of which was erected in 2011 by local Serbs, in a sign of opposition to the extent of Pristina's authority in the north.

In 2014, those barricades have been replaced by concrete and tree fences, which local authorities have called “Park of Peace”. This park was removed in 2016, after which the bridge was supposed to open up for circulation.

After that, local leadership has begun to build a “mur” on the north side of the bridge, which has since collapsed.