Hundreds gathered around the bridge on Wednesday, following pressure from the Government of Kosovo to open the bridge that divides the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the city.
Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo’s north protested against the opening of the bridge on the Iber River, which they say has protected them from ethnic cleansing and become symbolic of the divided city.
Protesters gathered around the bridge on Wednesday, following pressure from the government of Kosovo to open the bridge that divides the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the city.
“This bridge (being closed) has saved Kosovo’s coexistence and the political concept (of Serbs living with Albanians), for which Serbia was bombed for 78 days,” Nikola Kabasic, a former judge, said.
“That bridge on the Iber River stopped the ethnic cleansing of 1999 and 2000”.
The north of the bridge on the Iber River divides the city of Mitrovica into north and south with a majority of ethnic Serbs residing in the latter part.
The bridge has been closed to non-pedestrian vehicles since 2011, when ethnic Serbs started to put up barricades there.
Last year, the Mitrovica town hall assembly, or parliament, decided it should be opened to vehicle traffic sparking controversy between the Serb-majority north and the Albanian- majority south.
Authorities in Serbia have condemned the proposal to open the bridge, saying it is Kosovo’s attempt “to provoke conflict”.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government informed Western diplomats of his plans, which have been opposed by NATO member nations.
In 2015, the EU-mediated talks between Serbia and Kosovo included a discussion of the bridge.
“The bridge will be opened for all traffic on January 20, 2017,” according to a 2016 agreement that was not realised.
The main party supported by Serbs in Kosovo, the Serb List has called upon European Union representative to intervene in order to prevent escalation of the conflict.
