Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti is set to lay foundation stones today for two new bridges over the Ibar River, which divides the ethnically split city of Mitrovica. This comes just as his Minister of Interior, Xhelal Sveçla, inaugurated a new police station in the Serb-majority municipality of Zubin Potok.
While Kurti is scheduled to travel to Skopje for high-level talks with Western Balkans leaders and EU representatives on implementing the EU’s Growth Plan, he has made time to continue advancing his government’s domestic agenda—both symbolically and physically—by working to bridge the divide between the north and south.
After EU assessed the structural integrity of Mitrovica’s long-blocked main bridge—set to eventually reopen to traffic under the Brussels Agreement—the Kosovo government has moved ahead with plans to construct two additional crossings in the meantime.
Speculation over the new bridges first emerged two weeks ago, when Kurti’s ruling party, Vetëvendosje, released a rendering suggesting the bridges would flank the main one on either side. The image drew backlash on Albanian-language social media, with critics accusing the party of misleading the public.
Today, the locations were officially confirmed: one bridge, intended for vehicular traffic, will be built near the municipal building in North Mitrovica, while the other, a pedestrian bridge, will connect the “Tri solitera” apartment complex with the nearby village of Suvi Do.
Just days after North and South Mitrovica established a joint working group, the two municipalities signed an inter-municipal memorandum formalizing the project.
The document was signed by North Mitrovica Mayor Erden Atić, South Mitrovica Deputy Mayor Arijanit Tahiri, and acting Minister of Infrastructure Liburn Aliu, who is expected to attend today’s ceremony alongside acting Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi.
Kurti’s office emphasized that the initiative falls within the framework of a cooperation memorandum between the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure and both municipalities, with the stated aim of “improving infrastructure and connecting the two communities.”
According to the schedule, the ceremony begins at 5:00 PM with the laying of the cornerstone for the vehicle bridge near North Mitrovica’s municipal building. At 5:15 PM, officials will walk together toward the site of the pedestrian bridge, where the second foundation stone will be placed at 5:30 PM, opposite the “Gëzimi ynë” kindergarten in South Mitrovica.
Currently, five bridges span the Ibar in Mitrovica. The main bridge, however, remains closed to vehicular traffic.
The European Union, meanwhile, has called on the Kosovo authorities to refrain from unilateral actions, including the construction of new bridges. Their statement came in response to questions from Koha regarding recent load-bearing tests on the main bridge—tests which the EU confirmed the Kosovo government was aware of.
“We call on the Kosovo authorities to refrain from any unilateral actions, including the construction of bridges nearby,” the EU stated just one day before today’s inauguration.
The opening of the main bridge was the first act passed by the new local government in North Mitrovica nearly four years ago. Last summer, it was the subject of testing by authorities in both Pristina and Mitrovica, before the process was halted by international security bodies.
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