Kosovo’s government called it a “just decision” to fully open the bridge above the Ibër river. After the last war in Kosovo, the bridge separated Mitrovica in two parts: the south, with a majority of Albanians and the north, with a majority of Serbs.
However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is against this decision. He accused Kosovo’s Prime Minister of wanting “to distance Serbs” from Kosovo and criticized Albin Kurti as “a leader who seeks conflicts at any cost.”
On the other hand, the EU Special Representative for the Pristina-Belgrade Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák reiterated that “now it’s not the right time” to open the bridge above Ibër.
This issue has been at the center of the EU facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia towards normalization between the two countries. Both parties had agreed for the bridge to be open to traffic, but in practice, it was only opened to pedestrians.
Albanians and Serbs have clashed over the bridge in years. Despite the situation being calmer these days, EULEX troupes say tensions are still present, even though the situation is completely different compared to earlier years.
There is a merger of legal structures on Kosovo with parallel Serbian structures in the northern part of Mitrovica and practically the north is under the political control of Belgrade. Recent developments have made it even more apparent that the northern Serbs depend on Belgrade and move according to the political instructions there. Last year, the Serbs abandoned all institutions, triggering earlier local elections in the north. However, they responded to Vučić’s call to boycott the elections held on April 23rd.
