New bridge over Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica opened

Photo: Nikola Tomic

One of the two new bridges over the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica, which are being built by the provisional institutions in Pristina, was opened to traffic today.

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Images of the bridge was released by Deputy Minister for Infrastructure of provisional institutions in the technical mandate Hisen Durmishi and Acting Minister of Internal Affairs of the provisional Institutions Xhelal Svecla.

The Serb List in July handed over to the representatives of the international community a citizen's petition against the construction of the bridges on the Ibar River, and when signing the petition, the citizens pointed out that new bridges are not needed because they would not be unifying, but would contribute to jeopardizing the security of Serbs in the north of Kosovo and Metohija.

The construction of the bridges began on July 1, and they are located next to the main bridge on the Ibar River, which divides the city into the northern part, inhabited mostly by Serbs, and the southern part, where ethnic Albanians live.

The main bridge is closed to vehicles, and it is constantly secured by KFOR troops.

After the conflict in 1999, numerous incidents were recorded on it because Albanians from the southern part of the city would attempt to invade the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, where the Serbs are the majority population.

After the Serbs left the provisional institutions due to Pristina's unilateral moves, the 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 governmen in Pristina.

The opening of the main bridge on the Ibar is opposed by Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and by Belgrade, who point out that it would threaten the security of Serbs in the north of the province.

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

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)