Milunovic: The Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica has never discussed the construction of new bridges

Dusan Milunovic, the only Serbian representative in the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica, stated today that the construction of two new bridges over the Ibar River has never been discussed in the local parliament, nor has any project passed through proper legal procedures.

"I don't know if everyone remembers, but at the very beginning of this term—when I entered as the only Serbian representative—the issue of the bridge was raised, but it was about the main bridge over the Ibar. At the time, I was firmly against opening it. Today, I see I may have been wrong. We wanted to prevent that one from opening, and now we’ve got two new ones. It’s as if someone is being spiteful,” Milunovic said.

He emphasized that the construction of the two new bridges never passed through the local assembly and was not included in the municipal budget.

“This is all coming from Pristina as some sort of action—a pre-election circus being hastily pushed through,” Milunovic stated with conviction.

He added that the issue of new bridges has never been debated in the local parliament.

“That topic has never been discussed; there is no commission handling it. Many things, beyond the bridges, are being done improperly. There's an attempt to exploit this moment—when representatives of the majority community, the Serbs, are absent and unable to exert influence,” Milunovic said.

He noted that he has been outvoted multiple times as the sole Serbian representative.

“We don’t even have an urban development plan as a municipality, we’ve never addressed these issues, and no one consulted us regarding the construction of the bridges,” he stressed.

Speaking about recent demolitions of buildings near the municipal offices, Milunovic said some of the interventions were carried out without legal basis.

“We’re now witnessing demolitions of certain buildings and other activities... Just here in the hallway of the municipal building, I saw a lawyer who came to collect documentation in order to sue the municipality. The demolition that took place right across from the municipal building was entirely illegal and was only carried out to create access roads for this new bridge. No consideration was given to whether legal procedures were followed,” Milunovic concluded.

Despite strong opposition from the local community and a petition signed by a large number of residents, construction of the bridges continues at full speed.