Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called on Wednesday for the full reopening of the bridge in the city of Mitrovica, saying it would be another step towards free movement and would not put anyone at risk. But Western powers fear it could increase tensions.
The bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic for more than a decade, and Serbs have repeatedly barricaded it since 2011, claiming that if Albanians can travel freely across it to their part of the city in northern Kosovo, “ethnic cleansing” will follow.
Mitrovica is divided into a Serb-dominated north and an Albanian-dominated south, and the two sides rarely mix.
The bridge is currently open to commercial and pedestrian traffic, although the Mitrovica local council decided last year that it should be fully accessible to all, including private vehicles.
However, this proposal has put the Western powers in an awkward situation, who are afraid of the renewal of inter-ethnic conflict in the case of free movement of vehicles across the bridge.
Kurti said that freedom of movement, rule of law and peace and security are the main reasons why he wants to fully open the bridge.
“The opening of the bridge is not against anyone, and especially not against our partners. Kosovo is a normal country and its bridges should also be normal – which means open,” Kurti said at the government session.
Mitrovica is divided by a bridge on the river Ibar. Last week, Serbs in northern Kosovo protested against the opening of a bridge they say protects them from ethnic cleansing. The Serbian government also called for the bridge to remain closed.
The NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping force, known as KFOR, urged Pristina to refrain from unilateral steps that “could inflame tensions.”
Since last year’s unrest in northern Mitrovica, KFOR forces have increased their numbers and equipment along the Kosovo-Serbia border, including the Mitrovica bridge.
Last week, five Western powers – the United States (U.S.), Britain, France, Germany and Italy – urged Kosovo not to open the bridge at this time.
The U.S. State Department announced that they called on the Kosovo government to “return to close and constructive cooperation with the U.S. and other international partners”.
“Opening the bridge to vehicular traffic now increases the potential for violence and endangers the local population as well as KFOR troops – including Americans working to support peace and security in Kosovo,” Washington said.
Relations between Kosovo and Serbia remain strained, and 13 years of negotiations on normalization with the mediation of the European Union (EU) have failed to achieve progress, especially after the crackdown between Serbian armed attackers and Kosovo police last September.
The EU and the U.S. call on both sides to implement the agreement reached by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kurti in February and March last year, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
Photo: kossev
