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Kosovo government aims to build two new bridges in Mitrovica

2025-06-19 18:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The incumbent government of Kosovo intends to build two bridges on both sides of the main bridge over the Ibar River, which would connect North Mitrovica, inhabited by a Serb majority, with South Mitrovica, inhabited by an Albanian majority.

The intention to build them comes a few days after Mitrovica - the city with the most pronounced ethnic division in Kosovo - established the Joint Board between the southern municipality.

The establishment of the board was welcomed by the country's acting Government, as well as by the two municipalities, which have described it as an opportunity to bring about joint projects that improve the lives of citizens on both sides of the Ibar River.

The Vetëvendosje Movement, led by the acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, published a photograph showing what these two bridges would look like.

As seen in the published photographs, the new bridges would be built on the left and right sides of the main bridge, which is part of the Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on freedom of movement, reached in Brussels as part of the dialogue for the normalization of relations.

"This project will facilitate the movement of citizens and will serve as an infrastructure for communication, integration and development between the two parts of the city," according to a Vetëvendosje announcement on June 19.

A day earlier, the acting Minister of Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, announced that he signed a "memorandum of support for infrastructure projects between the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and the two municipalities, for a more connected, functional and better city for all citizens", with the Mayor of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, Erden Atiq, and the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of South Mitrovica, Ariana Tahiri, in the presence of the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi.

The Serbian List - the largest party of Kosovo Serbs that enjoys the support of official Belgrade - reacted a day ago, among other things, regarding the construction of these two bridges, saying that Kurti "is rapidly and without any concealment implementing the plan for the ethnic cleansing of the Serbian people from the territory of Kosovo."

The main bridge over the Ibar River, which divides Mitrovica into the Albanian-majority southern part and the Serb-majority northern part, is open only to pedestrians.

The announcement by the Kosovo Government in July last year that it plans to open this bridge to traffic raised tensions and caused reactions from the international community.

The NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, is based at the bridge. KFOR told Radio Free Europe at the time that any decision to open the bridge should be made within the framework of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which is being conducted through the European Union.

They stated that NATO supports this dialogue and that KFOR is there to contribute to a safe environment for all citizens of Kosovo, at all times and in an impartial manner.

"This includes a permanent presence at the bridge in Mitrovica and regular patrols in the surrounding area," KFOR said.

The European Union also recalled that the issue of opening the bridge was the topic of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia for the normalization of relations and that for this reason all decisions should be taken within the dialogue with the participation of official delegations from Pristina and Belgrade.