Petkovic: By laying foundation stones for two bridges in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kurti incites conflict and unrest

Photo: Tanjug/Jadranka Ilic

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, says that the laying of the foundation stones for two bridges over the Ibar River is an unlawful and violent act deeply against the interests of the Serb people in the north of the Province.

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Petkovic also assessed that the acting prime minister of the provisional institutions in Pristina, Albin Kurt, wants to cause conflict and unrest with such dangerous escalatory moves.

In his statement to Tanjug, Petkovic stressed that by doing so, Kurti is endangering the survival of Serbs, especially in Kosovska Mitrovica, who have lived through more than 200 serious attacks on the existing main bridge, and through attempted incursions by extremists from the southern part of the town, and added that he conveyed this to the EU special envoy for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Peter Sorensen, during the conversation in Vienna on Tuesday.

He also stated that no Serb in the north approves of the decision to build more bridges.

"It is a partisan decision made by Self-Determination, that brings with it catastrophic consequences. By announcing that the bridges will be opened in October before the local elections, Kurti deliberately makes the issue of security serve the election campaign. That is why he left the Berlin Process meeting and went straight to the foundation stone ceremony, thus showing that peace building and cooperation are not important to him! The EU must stop Kurti and his plans before it is too late," said Petkovic.

Earlier in the day, Kurti laid the foundation stones for the construction of two bridges over the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica, near the main bridge, and said that the main bridge, which is currently closed to traffic and is constantly secured by KFOR, should be opened as soon as possible.

The EU on Monday called on Pristina to refrain from any unilateral actions, including the construction of two new bridges, while the German embassy also called on Pristina to show "restraint" when it comes to building in the two bridges over the Ibar.

The main bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica, which stands between the northern part inhabited mainly by Serbs and the southern part, inhabited by ethnic Albanians, is closed to vehicles, and it is constantly secured by KFOR.

After the war in 1999, numerous incidents were recorded on it because Albanians from the southern part have repeatedly tried to invade the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, where the Serbs are the majority population.

After the Serbs left the provisional institutions because to Pristina's unilateral moves, municipal councilors in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica approved the request to open the main bridge for traffic in April 2023, and this decision was supported by the government in Pristina.

Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and Belgrade are opposed to that, pointing out that such a move would threaten the safety of Serbs in the north of the Province.

Representatives of the international community also opposed the opening of this bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica, stating that the issue should be resolved in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)