The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has demanded that the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, reverse its decision to abandon the bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica, the main urban center of Kosovo with a majority Serb-Kosovar population.
For 27 years, KFOR has taken direct responsibility for security at this strategic point. However, on August 10, it announced the start of a gradual withdrawal of the Italian Carabinieri deployed in the northern part of the bridge, with the aim of allowing the Kosovo Police to take control of the area.
The commander of the mission, Turkish General Ozkan Ulutas, then justified the withdrawal as part of a "process of optimization" resulting from "the improvement of security conditions on the ground"; an explanation that Vucic categorically rejected in a letter sent on Thursday to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
In this letter, disseminated by the portal Kosovo On Line, the Serbian leader stated that, between 2021 and 2026, more than 800 incidents of an ethnic nature against the Serbian community have been recorded and reiterated that Serb-Kosovars have been suffering systematic persecution by the Kosovo Government for years.
"Given that the main bridge over the Ibar River and its surroundings have become a hotspot for attacks against Serbs and other non-Albanians, the residents of Kosovska Mitrovica see the opening of the main bridge with fear, simply as a technical preparation for the continuation of their ethnic cleansing," Vucic stated, who also compared the situation to what is happening at the Visoki Decani monastery, where the Kosovo Police has also been incorporated into the security apparatus.
The Serbian leader has already threatened to divert the course of the Ibar River to reduce the flow that reaches Kosovo territory as retaliation for the treatment that, he claims, Serb-Kosovars receive.
In contrast to the criticisms from Belgrade, NATO sources indicated to the portal KOHA that, despite the reconfiguration of the apparatus, KFOR "will maintain a visible presence in the south and north of Mitrovica and will continue to contribute to maintaining a safe environment for all communities in Kosovo."
Russia, a historical ally of Serbia, has expressed a frontal opposition to the withdrawal of KFOR. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zajarova, denounced on Friday that "the local Serbian population is being subjected to a campaign of systematic terrorism" by the Kosovar authorities and with "the tacit approval of the international presence under the auspices of NATO, the European Union, and the United Nations."
Moscow, which continues to consider Kosovo as an inseparable part of Serbia, accuses the Pristina Government of recently promoting a "campaign of demolitions of Serbian properties," exemplified in "the destruction of buildings at Gazivoda Lake" last July. This artificial reservoir, known to Kosovars as Ujmani, collects the waters of the Ibar River and is key for the economic and energy development of the region.
The Kosovar authorities admitted in July to the demolition of 17 Serbian-owned constructions on the shore of the lake, although they insisted that these were illegal buildings erected on land considered strategic due to its water and energy importance.