Petkovic to Sorensen: EU's assessment regarding Ibar bridge does not reflect actual state of affairs

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic's message for EU Special Envoy for Dialogue Peter Sorensen is that Belgrade views with great concern the latest statement by a EU spokesperson regarding the possible opening of the main bridge over the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica, when the EU assessed that the conditions for its opening have been met.

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In a strongly worded protest letter, which Tanjug has had access to, Petkovic points out that such an assessment is particularly worrying for us, since it does not reflect the actual situation on the ground, nor the fact that the key preconditions previously agreed during the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue have not yet been met.

As an example, Petkovic cited the fact that the issue of the delimitation of "North and South" Kosovska Mitrovica in the area of ​​the Suvi Do cadastral zone has not been resolved, although this is directly related to the agreements reached within the dialogue regarding the main bridge on the Ibar River, as well as the fact that in the Bridge Agreement of August 25, 2015, issues of freedom of movement, infrastructure works and the opening of the bridge were considered together with security issues of immediate importance for the Serb population in the area of ​​the bridge, Suvi Do and others sensitive areas.

"At the same time, the current security situation, especially in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, indicates that opening the bridge at this moment would not be safe and would further increase the sense of insecurity of the Serb population," Petkovic stressed and reminded that the area of ​​the main bridge on the Ibar has been one of the most sensitive security points for decades due to numerous attacks on Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica, but also throughout Kosovo and Metohija.

He also pointed out that additional concern is the fact that the members of the Pristina police appear as perpetrators of ethnically motivated attacks, because there have been recorded cases of their brutal treatment and cover-up of attacks against Serbs.

Petkovic underlined that the EU, as the facilitator of the dialogue and the guarantor of the implementation of the agreements reached in the dialogue, is responsible for maintaining a neutral approach and enabling conditions where open issues can be resolved by agreement between the parties.

"The decision to open the bridge can only be made after a previously assumed obligations from the dialogue have been fully met, and a credible and sustainable security assessment that will guarantee that such a step will not threaten the safety of the Serb population, increase existing tensions or produce a new crisis in the north of Kosovo and Metohija," concluded Petkovic.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)