Amid tensions over the possible reopening of the main bridge in Mitrovica, an EU official told BIRN that the issue will be returned to the dialogue table in Brussels and warned Kosovo not to open the bridge without prior coordination.
Workers were patiently refurbishing the main Mitrovica bridge in north Kosovo on Friday afternoon as, metres away, an Italian Carabinieri unit, part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, and Kosovo Police had their vehicles on standby on and next to the bridge, which has ethnically divided the town into two parts for more than a quarter of a century.
An unnamed manager of the company hired by the Kosovo government to do refurbishment work ahead of a possible reopening told BIRN that he expects the work to be completed during Friday.
The planned reopening of the bridge for vehicle traffic has sparked a new row between the government and its Western allies, who want the issue resolved as part of the EU-mediated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels, rather than as a unilateral move by Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government. Kosovo Serbs strongly oppose the reopening, claiming it will undermine their security.
An EU spokesperson told BIRN on Friday that Brussels has planned to put the bridge on the agenda for the next Kosovo- Serbia dialogue meeting. The date of the meeting is not yet scheduled, however.
“Opening the bridge is a dialogue issue despite the government of Kosovo acting to the contrary. Together with our international partners, including NATO and [NATO’s Kosovo force] KFOR, we oppose action to change the current status of the bridge without prior coordination and agreement in the dialogue,” the spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Kurti has repeatedly promised to reopen the bridge, but expectations have lowered since Wednesday when Kurti adopted a softened tone while speaking with his cabinet at a regular government meeting.
“We will continue consultations and coordination with our partners. The opening of the bridge is not against anyone, least of our partners. Kosovo is a normal state and its bridges should be normal, meaning open,” Kurti said.
A day before Kurti seemed to change tone, the US ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, warned the Kosovo authorities to not make any unilateral move.
“We believe that this danger increases the threat, possibility of violence and other problems, for both local community and NATO soldiers, including American soldiers who are working to ensure peace and security in Kosovo,” Hovenier said.
On August 7, hundreds of Serbs protested against the government’s move to open the main bridge, which divides the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the city.
The Serbian authorities also condemned the initiative as an attempt “to provoke conflict”.
The bridge was a topic in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in 2015. An agreement reached in 2016 said that “the bridge will be opened for all traffic on 20 January 2017”.
