Austrian Expert Rejects Vučić’s Request to NATO over the Ibër Bridge: Kosovo Must Have Full Freedom of Movement

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, asking KFOR to prevent the opening of the Ibër Bridge in Mitrovica.

The Serbian president’s appeal has reopened discussions about freedom of movement, security in northern Kosovo and the KFOR mission in this part of the country.

Austrian expert Gunther Fehlinger, speaking to “Bota sot,” described Vučić’s request as politically misguided and strategically damaging.

Fehlinger says Kosovo cannot continue indefinitely to have physical obstacles dividing parts of its territory.

“President Vučić’s request that NATO stop the opening of the Ibër Bridge is politically misguided and strategically counterproductive.

A bridge should serve to bring people closer together, not keep them divided. Movement between North Mitrovica and South Mitrovica should be an ordinary European reality. Kosovo cannot keep internal physical barriers forever simply because Belgrade objects to Kosovo’s institutions exercising their responsibilities within its territory.”

According to the Austrian expert, concerns related to the security of the Serbian community must be addressed seriously, but they cannot be used to block the opening of the bridge indefinitely.

“The security of the local Serbian community must absolutely be taken into consideration. The opening process should be carried out in careful coordination with KFOR, the Kosovo Police, the municipalities and representatives of all communities. However, consultations cannot become a permanent Serbian veto over Kosovo’s internal infrastructure.

This latest intervention also places Vučić’s recent pro-Ukrainian appearance alongside President Zelenskyy in a different perspective. In my view, the photographs and diplomatic gestures toward Ukraine increasingly look like political theater when accompanied by policies toward Kosovo that continue the old logic of pressure, obstruction and territorial influence.”

Referring to the Ibër River and infrastructure issues in this area, Fehlinger stressed that they should not be turned into tools for political confrontation.

He underlined that NATO should listen to reasonable security concerns, but should not accept Belgrade’s request to preserve a permanent division.

“The same approach should apply to the dispute surrounding the Ibër water system. Water, bridges and infrastructure should never be used as tools of political confrontation. Instead of turning the Ibër issue into another arena of confrontation over sovereignty, Belgrade should cooperate with Kosovo on water security and regional infrastructure.

Vučić was part of Slobodan Milošević’s political system and during that period served as Serbia’s information minister. Serbia should have abandoned that political culture long ago. But demands to keep Mitrovica physically divided and the repeated confrontations around the Ibër inevitably bring back memories of the doctrine of the Milošević era, which was based on pressure, division and perpetual crisis.

This is not a European Serbia.

NATO should take legitimate security concerns into consideration, but it should not accept Belgrade’s political demand for permanent division. KFOR was created to guarantee security and stability, not to institutionalize division forever.”

Fehlinger says the solution he supports is clear: the Ibër Bridge should be opened, while the security and rights of all communities should be protected.

“My position is clear:

Open the Ibër Bridge. Ensure protection for every Serb and every Albanian. Protect minority rights and religious sites. Guarantee freedom of movement. Secure Kosovo’s water infrastructure. Oppose violence from all sides. Reject the politics of perpetual crisis. And do not accept Belgrade’s claim to have a veto over Kosovo’s sovereign internal affairs.

If President Vučić genuinely wants to demonstrate that Serbia has chosen Europe, Ukraine and peace over the political legacy of the Milošević era, he must show this through policies and not through photo opportunities. Mitrovica’s future must not be another generation of division. It should be an open European city, in a peaceful Kosovo integrated into NATO, the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic community,” Gunther Fehlinger concluded to “Bota sot.”