Andric Rakic: The Ibar Bridge is Kurti's pre-election card – he has no others

Milica Andrić Rakić
Source: Kosovo Online

Milica Andric Rakic, the program manager of the NGO Social Initiative, believes that Pristina's insistence on opening the main bridge on the Ibar to traffic is solely for the electoral purposes of Prime Minister Albin Kurti and that this topic will be further intensified in the coming months.

"The opening of the bridge is happening exclusively as an initiative within the framework of the election campaign, and I assume that as the elections approach, this issue will be further highlighted. In a scenario where we have potential protests on the southern side in favor of opening the bridge, it could even be a kind of blow to the PDK candidate, Bedri Hamza, who is currently the mayor of South Mitrovica. Kurti may see a political advantage if such a protest is organized in his city, especially since the government is calling for the bridge to be opened, and they can say, 'Look, the local authorities aren't getting involved.' So, this should be viewed solely within the context of the general approach to the upcoming elections, which for Self-Determination will obviously be based solely on changing the situation in northern Kosovo, as there have been no other significant results," Andric Rakic said.

When asked what message Kurti would be sending given that Quint members and the EU have been clear that the issue of opening the Ibar Bridge is a matter for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, she responded that their statements have closed this issue – for now.

"A new KFOR commander will take office in October, and the government may try again to convince KFOR to change its stance, as it's clear that the current administration of the mission does not support this move. But overall, I don't think the government will completely abandon the initiative," Andric Rakic emphasized.

She says that as the elections approach, there could be protests organized in South Mitrovica, calling for the bridge to be opened to traffic.

"Kurti also mentioned consultations with the northern community; it is possible that the municipality will try to organize something in that direction, some kind of public consultation with citizens, although, I have to say, at this point, it would be quite pointless. You have a local assembly that has already twice, without consulting the citizens, voted to open the bridge, that is, passed a decision at the request of the central authorities to open the bridge. And now, more than a year after the first such decision, to organize consultations really shows a serious level of amateurism and the extent to which the community is actually not being consulted about anything," Andric Rakic stressed.