Zemlje Quintus - USA, Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy - do not support the opening of the bridge over the Ibar River to traffic Mitrovica, which divides the South Mitrovica with the Albanian majority and the North where the majority Serb community lives.
This was stated by the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti (Albin), whose government had previously expressed its intention to open the bridge.
That bridge is currently only open for pedestrians, although it was agreed to open it for traffic as part of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
"We met with Prime Minister Kurti to inform him that our governments, in consultation with NATO, cannot support any change in the current status of the Mitrovica bridge at this time," Quinte Hovenier said on behalf of the countries.
"The status of the bridge cannot be changed without the consent of both parties"
Miodrag Marinković from the NGO "Casa" from Kosovska Mitrovica assesses for Vreme that such a decision by Quinta was expected, but notes that this is a precedent, because in the previous period, Pristina independently made major decisions in several cases.
"There are several elements there. First, the international community is trying by all means to revitalize the dialogue in Brussels, not only to continue it, but to oblige the parties to consistently respect what was agreed upon. The bridge and freedom of movement are some of the things that were agreed in Brussels, and that agreement is being implemented. But the point is that it cannot be changed without the consent of both parties," Marinković points out.
He adds that the move to open the bridge in Mitrovica to traffic is a classic one-sided move, which the international community does not tolerate.
"This is one of the few issues that the international community has directly asked about, and it has the ability to prevent Pristina from its intention. According to the Brussels agreement, KFOR is positioned on the bridge and they have the possibility to influence it. "They decided on a completely predictable thing, that is, not to change the agreement reached earlier," says Marinković.
Photo: KossevMiodrag Marinković
According to him, Quinta's decision is not a surprise, but it also shows some kind of international community to resolve the issue of Serbian-Albanian relations.
"We see that the problem is that Pristina and Belgrade consistently commit to the implementation of the agreement, so this decision to further close the bridge is a precedent. In all other fields, the international community has much less potential to influence the events on the ground," said the interlocutor of Vremena.
There is no status quo position, Pristina's moves are changing reality and the situation on the ground
He reminds that in previous years the Brussels Agreement left the status quo on the ground, there was no progress and no problems were solved. Each of the sides would be deeply entrenched in "trenches". And that status would now be very suitable for the Serbian community, but it does not exist now.
"Now we have a crisis in the negotiations, and on the other hand unilateral moves by Pristina that change the reality and the situation on the ground." This also changes the agenda in the dialogue. You know, now it is no longer possible to discuss a solution for the dinar when they canceled the post office," Marinković said.
Such and similar things show, in his opinion, the impossibility of action by the international community and the absence of a plan to resolve the conflict.
"They are trying to force Kurti to be consistent in the negotiation process, but it turned out that they have very big problems with him," concluded Masrinković.
Kurti's futile intentions
Let us recall that the government of Prime Minister Kurti announced in mid-July that it intends to open the main bridge on the Ibar in Mitrovica.
However, the NATO military mission in Kosovo (KFOR) noted that any decision regarding the opening of the bridge must be made within the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which is conducted through the European Union.
Italian soldiers as part of the KFOR mission are on the very bridge over the Ibar River, while members of the Kosovo Police are also in the immediate vicinity.
On August 1, EU spokesman Peter Stano also reiterated the position of the European Union that the issue of opening the bridge in Mitrovica must be resolved within the dialogue, bearing in mind that there is an agreement on this.
Photo: Tanjug / Filip KrainčanićBridge in Kosovska Mitrovica
The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, reacted to this by stating that consulting with Serbia on this issue would represent "a serious violation of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitution of our country".
"The only dialogue that needs to be held is the one within Kosovo, between our institutions and our security partners (especially with NATO) in order to create a joint implementation plan for opening the bridge for traffic," Osmani said.
What do the Brussels Bridge Agreements provide?
Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the opening of the bridge over the Ibar in Mitrovica for traffic as part of the dialogue on the normalization of relations in 2014.
The so-called revitalization of the bridge is planned with the aim of removing all barricades and functionalizing the bridge.
The first barricades on the bridge were erected by local Serbs in 2011 as a sign of opposition to Pristina's establishment of power in the north of the country.
In 2014, those barricades were replaced by concrete fences with trees, which the local authorities in North Mitrovica, led by Srpski list, named "Peace Park". This park was removed in 2016, after which the bridge was supposed to be opened for traffic.
In the same year, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on a new implementation plan, the goal of which was to overcome disagreements over different interpretations of previous conclusions.
According to the new implementation plan, the full opening of the bridge was supposed to take place in January 2017.
However, works on the revitalization of the bridge were completed only in June 2018. 1,5 million euros were invested in that project.
Ultimately, the bridge is not open to motor vehicles, but only to pedestrians.
