Kosovo Serbs in northern Kosovo protested on Tuesday against the possible reopening of the bridge over the Iber River, which they say has provided them protection. Hundreds of Serbs gathered nearby amid signs that the Kosovo government might open the bridge.
He bridge over the Iber river divides the city Mitrovica. Its north is the main area with most of the Kosovo Serb ethnic minority, while the other side brings together Kosovo Albanians. Has been closed to traffic since 2011when the Kosovo Serbs began to put up barricades there.
Last year, the Mitrovica municipal assembly decided that it should be opened. It is now up to the central government to put the decision into practice, and the prime minister of KosovoAlbin Kurti, has repeatedly advocated for reopening.
But that decision has caused worry between the one known as ‘La Quinta’, the term that encompasses five western powers who fear a resurgence of ethnic conflict. The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy have called on Kosovo to refrain from opening the bridge at this time.
“The closure of this bridge has saved the coexistence of Kosovo and the political concept of Serbs living with Albanians, for which Serbia was bombed for 78 days,” Nikola Kabasic, a lawyer, told the crowd of Kosovo Serb protesters. “Other cities in Kosovo do not have this bridge to protect themselves. This city and this bridge have been lucky. That bridge over the Iber River stopped the ethnic cleansing of 1999 and 2000,” he said.
The forces of NATO Mission in Kosovo (‘KFOR’) They closely monitored the protest and said that “the demonstration proceeded without any reported disruption or safety concerns.”
EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia stalled
Las relations between Kosovo and Serbia they are still tense y EU-facilitated talks have failed to make progressespecially after a shootout last September between masked Serbian gunmen and Kosovo Police that left four dead.
The peacekeepers of the KFOR, led by NATO, have increased their numbers and equipment along the Kosovo-Serbia border. The EU and the United States are pressing both sides to implement agreements that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti reached in February and March last year.
Serbia and Kosovo’s chances of join the EU one day are in danger due to their refusal to reach agreementsaccording to the head of Foreign Policy of the bloc, Josep Borrell.
