North Mitrovica mayor: Security poor, basis for Ibar Bridge reopening unclear

Citing “the improved security situation in Kosovo,” the NATO-led KFOR mission announced earlier this month a gradual withdrawal of its permanent presence on the main bridge in Mitrovica, which divides the city into a Serb-majority north and a predominantly ethnic Albanian south.

Radojevic said that Serb representatives had on several occasions asked ambassadors from the Quint countries, European Union (EU) representatives and the KFOR commander what their assessment of the security situation in Kosovo, and specifically in northern Mitrovica, was based on.

“Is it based solely on police reports which are, and I have to use these words, truly disappointing and ridiculous, given that they never record a single ethnically motivated incident? Those ethnically motivated incidents are being completely covered up,” Radojevic said in an appearance on Serbian state TV (RTS).

He cited the case of Nenad Raskovic, who is still waiting for an answer as to who assaulted him.

“No action has yet been taken against them, while at the same time we are being told that the situation is safe and that the main bridge over the Ibar can be opened to traffic,” Radojevic said.

According to him, Serbs want the international community to explain what has changed over the past year to warrant a security assessment that now allows for plans to reopen the bridge.

He warned that a verdict in a war crimes case in The Hague was approaching and said Serbs in northern Mitrovica therefore had legitimate concerns about the reaction of ethnic Albanians.

“Serbs have good reason to fear that the Kosovo Police are not up to the task and cannot protect us, our churches or our monasteries,” the mayor said, recalling that representatives of the Serb List party had asked the KFOR commander to increase the mission’s presence ahead of the verdict.

Asked about South Mitrovica Mayor Faton Peci’s statement that reopening the bridge would mark the end of the idea of partitioning northern Kosovo, Radojevic said it was just one in a series of steps being taken by the Kosovo authorities on the ground.

“The ultimate goal is to unify Mitrovica and abolish the separate municipality of North Mitrovica,” Radojevic said, recalling the caretaker government’s decision to establish a joint board for the two municipalities, which he described as “a very dangerous move.”