Belgrade Accuses Pristina of Increasing Pressure on Kosovo Serbs

Kosovska Mitrovica, August 31 2022 (BETAPHOTO/SASA DJORDJEVIC)

The goal of Pristina, led by Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti, was to take control of the main bridge over Ibar River in Mitrovica, dividing the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the city, in order to exert “additional pressure on the local Serb community,” Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said on Aug. 21. 

Speaking to state public broadcaster RTS, Djuric said that Mitrovica “is the bastion of the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” stressing that it was the only Serb-majority urban environment in Kosovo. 

Djuric recalled that the Ibar bridge had been closed for vehicle traffic since 1999, describing the attempts to reopen it as “very studiously organized violence” against the Serbs.