Qarri on KFOR’s Withdrawal: Efforts to Divide Mitrovica Have Failed

Political analyst Gani Qarri, in a statement to “Bota Sot,” described KFOR’s decision to begin the gradual transition away from its permanent presence on the main bridge over the Iber River in Mitrovica as an important development. According to him, this step strengthens Kosovo’s institutions and increases the responsibilities of the Kosovo Police.

Qarri said the determination of the Government of Kosovo to extend law and order throughout the country’s territory had created new circumstances for stability and security in the north.

According to him, Prime Minister Kurti’s forward-looking policy, the Government’s commitment to the rule of law throughout Kosovo, the construction of two bridges on either side of the main bridge over the Iber, and the restoration of calm and stable interethnic relations have changed the situation in Mitrovica. Qarri said this situation had been successfully maintained by the Kosovo Police under the leadership of Mr. Veton Elshani, making it possible for no incidents to be recorded in this part of the country for more than three years.

He added that these developments had deprived Serbia and KFOR forces of their final argument for maintaining a presence on the bridge. According to Qarri, 27 years after liberation, the main bridge over the Iber River is finally shedding its symbolism of division and becoming a point of genuine and permanent unification for the heroic city of miners.

Qarri recalled that UN Resolution 1244, dated June 10, 1999, provided for KFOR’s deployment in Kosovo to protect the state borders and guarantee security against external attacks by Serbian military forces. According to him, the mandate did not include dictating internal developments or creating administrative divisions in Kosovo.

The analyst also referred to the Serbian terrorist attack in Banjska, Zvečan, which, as he said, took place before KFOR’s eyes and left a Kosovo police officer dead in the line of duty. For Qarri, this case demonstrated that, despite the mission’s presence, security along the borders of the Republic of Kosovo was not at the required level and left much to be desired. Meanwhile, KFOR troops remained unnecessarily stationed day and night on the main bridge over the Iber River in Mitrovica.

According to Qarri, the dismantling of the static post on the bridge should be interpreted as the beginning of the gradual transfer of responsibilities to Kosovo’s institutions.

He said the withdrawal of KFOR soldiers and removal of the static post from the main bridge over the Iber, although coming after 26-27 years of uninterrupted presence and only after the Government of Kosovo began construction of the third bridge over the Iber River in Mitrovica, represented the best possible beginning. According to him, this process marks the gradual integration and genuine transfer of responsibility for the bridge to the Kosovo Police, which will finally make its long-awaited reopening possible.

Qarri described the sudden deployment of KFOR forces on the main Iber Bridge as painful, particularly after 10 innocent Albanians were killed, 25 people were wounded, and more than 12,000 defenseless Albanians were forcibly expelled from their ancestral homes in the north in a single night. These events took place on the night of February 3-4, 2000.

According to him, this action not only created a profound sense of insecurity but also heightened fears that new borders were being quietly established on the main bridge in the historic city of miners. He said there were concerns that Kosovo’s territory was being reduced through force and without the consent of the Albanian people.

For this reason, Qarri said the news of KFOR’s withdrawal from the main bridge over the Iber River had been welcomed as glad tidings by citizens who wish Kosovo and its people well, as well as by those who rejoice in the state-building of the Republic.

He also regarded the assumption of responsibility for the bridge by local institutions as evidence that the capabilities of the Kosovo Police had been strengthened.

According to Qarri, placing the main bridge over the Iber River in Mitrovica under the care of Kosovo’s institutions shows that the level of security has improved. He said this development also demonstrates the advancement of the state police’s operational capabilities and the expansion of genuine opportunities for the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to assume additional responsibilities for guaranteeing political stability.

Referring to information from the NATO mission, Qarri said the withdrawal of KFOR personnel from the main bridge over the Iber had been discussed with the Kurti Government for a long time. He emphasized that this process was linked to the improvement of the security situation in Kosovo and that, in addition to Kosovo’s citizens, the decision had also been welcomed and strongly supported by Germany, one of the key EU and NATO countries and a proven friend of the independent state of Kosovo.

Qarri recalled that February 3 of this year marked more than 26 years since the “Night of Terror.” Nearly a year after the end of the war and Kosovo’s liberation from the Serbian occupier, during the massacre of February 3 and 4, 2000, in northern Mitrovica, armed Serbian criminal groups and members of the Serbian terrorist organization known as the “Bridge Watchers” killed 10 Albanians in the presence of international forces.

The victims included women, elderly people and innocent children. A further 25 people were wounded in those events, while more than 12,000 defenseless Albanians were expelled from the north. Their homes were burned, and they were driven at gunpoint from their ancestral homes in northern Kosovo.

He emphasized that this event continues to be remembered with pain as one of the gravest episodes of the postwar period and one of the most tragic forms of ethnic cleansing of Albanians from northern Kosovo, carried out by Serbian criminals in the country’s first year of freedom.

Addressing the history of the bridge and developments after the end of the war, Qarri recalled that the issue of opening it to traffic had also been included in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

He said that, in honor of the suffering, sacrifice and courage of the Albanian residents, who were left alone and defended themselves barehanded during that fateful night, the Municipality of Mitrovica had installed a memorial plaque bearing the names of those killed near the new pedestrian bridge. An exhibition featuring photographs from the “Night of Terror” was also opened at the Cultural Center, while it was decided that candles would be lit and commemorative events held every February 4 for the Albanians killed by Serbian criminal gangs.

As another positive sign of strengthened security, Qarri mentioned the announcement that, on the same day the decision concerning the main bridge over the Iber River in Mitrovica was made, the gradual integration and transfer of responsibility for the Deçan Monastery to Kosovo Police personnel also began. This step was taken in line with the improvement of the security situation in Kosovo.

Regarding the bridge, Qarri said the history of the Brussels talks on normalizing relations showed that Kosovo and Serbia had agreed to open it to traffic as early as 2014. The agreement provided for the removal of all barricades erected by Milan Radoičić’s Serbian criminals, but the bridge was never opened.

In 2016, an agreement was reached on a new implementation plan under which the bridge was to be opened to traffic in January 2017. Although around 1.5 million euros was invested in the project and the revitalization work was completed in June 2018, it has remained closed until now.

According to Qarri, the construction of two new bridges by the Government of Kosovo has disproved claims that opening the main bridge could endanger security.

He said that even the Kurti Government’s efforts to reopen the bridge to vehicles were not supported by the international community. For this reason, the Government of Kosovo was forced to build two new bridges on either side of the main bridge, one for vehicles and the other for pedestrians. According to him, this action disproved every unfounded justification advanced by those who opposed opening the bridge on the grounds that the security situation could deteriorate.

Qarri said KFOR’s latest decision to place the main Iber Bridge in Mitrovica under the responsibility of the local security force, where it belongs, proves that all hostile and malicious efforts to keep the city of miners divided have finally failed. He congratulated all Albanians and international representatives who contributed in any way to making this day possible.

According to him, the removal of the static post and KFOR personnel from the main bridge over the Iber River, although taking place 27 years after the war, brings joy to citizens and particularly to the long-suffering Albanians who were forcibly expelled from the north by criminal forces and members of Serbian terrorist organizations.

Qarri said this long-awaited development demonstrates NATO’s growing confidence in the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. At the same time, according to him, it sends a clear political message to Serbia and other actors that do not wish Kosovo well and continue to seek the destabilization of the north at any cost: their efforts have now failed.

In conclusion, the analyst expressed concern that, according to KFOR, the chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces had also been kept continuously informed about developments related to the bridge.

Qarri said this issue continues to cause pain and touch the still-open wounds of Albanians. According to him, linking every process aimed at normalizing the situation and strengthening Kosovo’s statehood with the regime and military of aggressor Serbia—which committed hundreds of massacres, carried out terror and caused genocide on an unprecedented scale against defenseless Albanians—brings back the bitterest memories.

He emphasized that these developments remain deeply painful even today, at a time when Kosovo continues to uncover mass graves and the bodies of more than 1,600 Albanians who were killed and abducted are still missing. Qarri said Serbia continues to hold them hostage even 27 years after the end of the war, while the martyred Albanian families have waited for nearly three decades, with open graves, for their loved ones.

With this assessment, Gani Qarri concluded his statement to “Bota Sot.”