KFOR Begins Gradual Withdrawal from Ibar Bridge, Serb List Calls for Continued Military Presence

NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, has announced that it has begun the process of gradually changing its permanent presence on the main bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica.

According to KFOR’s response to Radio Free Europe, the decision is linked to an assessment that the security situation in Kosovo has improved. The mission considers the move part of an effort to optimize the positioning of its forces.

The process, it explained, will be carried out gradually and will depend on conditions on the ground. KFOR said it is coordinating the process with all relevant stakeholders, including Kosovo’s institutions, international organizations, the Kosovo Police and the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX).

According to KFOR, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović, has also been regularly briefed on developments surrounding the process.

The NATO mission has said that its personnel are positioned to respond to any significant developments, in accordance with its longstanding UN mandate.

KFOR also stressed that it will maintain a visible presence in both southern and northern Mitrovica, as well as in northern Kosovo, to help preserve a safe environment for all communities.

Earlier the same day, KFOR also announced the start of the Kosovo Police’s gradual integration into the mission’s security framework at the Visoki Dečani Monastery.

The Kosovo Police has not yet responded to questions from Radio Free Europe about whether its officers have been deployed on the Ibar Bridge and whether they will remain there after KFOR troops leave.

The Serb List, the main political party representing Kosovo Serbs, has opposed any withdrawal or reduction of KFOR’s presence on the main bridge over the Ibar.

The party announced that it had requested an urgent meeting with KFOR Commander Major General Özkan Ulutaş to present the concerns of the Serb community in the north and demand that the measure’s implementation be halted.

According to the Serb List, decisions on the presence of security forces in the area should be made carefully, given the political and security situation and the tensions that have affected the area around the bridge in the past.

The party claimed that the Kosovo Police had failed to earn the trust of Serbs in the north, while describing KFOR’s presence on the bridge as an important element of stability.

The Serb List called on KFOR to maintain an appropriate presence on the main bridge and continue its commitment to security and stability.

The bridge connecting South Mitrovica, where most residents are Albanian, with North Mitrovica, where the majority are Serb, currently remains open only to pedestrians. It has repeatedly been a flashpoint for ethnic tensions.

Since the end of the war in 1999, the bridge has been continuously guarded by KFOR forces.

In July 2024, the Kosovo government announced plans to open the bridge to vehicle traffic. The announcement triggered tensions and reactions from the international community.

Kosovo and Serbia agreed to open the bridge to traffic in 2014 as part of the dialogue to normalize relations. The agreement provided for the bridge’s reconstruction and the removal of all barricades erected by local Serbs.

Following disagreements over how previous agreements should be interpreted, the parties agreed on a new implementation plan in 2016, under which the bridge was to be opened to vehicles in January 2017.

Work to revitalize the bridge was completed in June 2018. Despite an investment of approximately 1.5 million euros, it was never opened to vehicle traffic and continued to serve pedestrians only.

Near the main bridge, the Kosovo government has also built two other bridges, one for pedestrians and one for vehicles. They are intended to connect North and South Mitrovica in a city that has remained divided along ethnic lines since the war.