The opening of the main bridge over the Ibar River, which connects South Mitrovica, inhabited by Albanians, and North Mitrovica, inhabited by a Serb majority, is being considered a necessity. After the bridge’s stability was tested again, this time by a company contracted by the European Union, the need to reach an agreement on its full opening is being assessed, KosovaPress reports.
The incumbent government says that, despite this, plans will continue for the construction of two other bridges over the Ibar River, while they say that they have not had any official information about these tests. However, political parties have also raised concerns that the topic of opening the Ibar Bridge may be related to the holding of local elections in October 2025.
Last year, the Government of Kosovo attempted to open the Ibar Bridge, but after international pressure it withdrew from this idea, despite the fact that it had tested its stability and had rehabilitated it.
KosovaPress has sent questions to the European Union regarding the testing of the stability of the main bridge over the Ibar River and whether there is an agreement in Brussels for its opening, but we have not received a response. The office of the acting Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and Dialogue, Besnik Bislimi, was also unavailable regarding whether the opening of the bridge was discussed in the recent dialogue meetings.
However, the acting Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Hysen Durmishi, tells KosovaPress that there was no need to conduct further tests of the Ibar Bridge, as it is stable for any load that may pass over it.
He states that there has been no official information regarding Tuesday’s tests on the bridge over the Ibar River, while adding that the plans for the construction of two new bridges over the Ibar River connecting South Mitrovica and North Mitrovica will continue.
The intention to build these two bridges on the Ibar River was stated after the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure signed a memorandum of cooperation for infrastructure projects with the Municipality of South Mitrovica and North Mitrovica.
“We have not had any official information that there will be tests. They have done the tests, we have done our tests and we have received the result and the report. The bridge is stable for any load that may pass over it. What they did those tests for, I have no idea, but this is not related to the other two bridges at all… We will continue with the construction of two more bridges and probably many more along the Ibar River”, emphasizes Durmishi.
On the other hand, the leader of the Alternative party, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, who is also a deputy from the Vetëvendosje Movement in the Kosovo Assembly, welcomes the testing of the Ibar Bridge by the European Union, but emphasizes the need for the European Union to now agree on its opening.
In fact, according to her, now is a unique moment for the bridge to open even before the local elections and to be in function of what it was built for – freedom of movement.
“The stability of the Ibar Bridge has been discussed several times. It is good that it is being tested, but a decision to open it for traffic must follow. The function of the bridge is always to connect and circulate, not to block it. It is meaningless that, in a situation where security circumstances have changed for the better in the four municipalities in the north, that bridge should be kept blocked. It has remained a synonym for a period of almost two decades of fear and division. It is a unique and positive moment that even before the local elections, a decision is made and there is a common agreement that the bridge will be in function of what it was built for”, emphasizes Kusari-Lila.
The opening of the Ibar Bridge to traffic is also requested by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) MP, Ferat Shala, but he tells KosovaPress that such an idea may have been initiated by the incumbent government so that the Vetëvendosje Movement can gain political points on the eve of the local elections.
“I was part of the signing and involvement that the bridge should have been opened much earlier, but unfortunately it remained that way. However, even here now I see that, on the eve of the local elections, there are games and I do not expect that the tests are the main problem of the bridge… These are part of the political game due to the local elections,” Shala emphasizes.
The opening of the main bridge over the Ibar River to traffic was foreseen in 2017, within the framework of the Brussels dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia for the normalization of relations
