Women from the North submitted a letter to KFOR: The bridge should not be opened

A letter signed by 400 women, emphasizing the difficult situation of women in northern Kosovo and appealing for the bridge to remain closed, was handed over today to the Carabinieri at the main Ibar Bridge. The letter is addressed to KFOR Commander Ozkan Ulutas.

Milica Radovanovic from North Mitrovica explains that the signatories are women from all walks of life, who do not represent any initiative or political party.

"After months of discussions with other women, and following recent events – from the latest protests to multiple arrests and other tense situations – a few of us came up with the idea to try to summarize the current major concerns and fears of the women of northern Kosovo. The letter we will hand over to the Carabinieri today, intended for the KFOR commander, is the best reflection of our efforts to put all those concerns onto a piece of paper. We believe we have summarized them all truthfully, as this letter was supported in just one day by 415 women from the four northern municipalities," she stated.

Radovanovic emphasizes that they are asking the KFOR commander for a decisive reaction and a clear signal that no political interests will outweigh the interests of the citizens, who are now predominantly against opening the bridge.

"And just to point out, although the issue of the bridge opening is what brought us together, you will see in the letter a whole range of other equally alarming problems that women in the North are facing," she added.

Although this is an initiative by women from northern Kosovo, Radovanovic points out that they also want to draw attention to the fact that most of these problems are also faced by their fellow citizens living in southern Kosovo. The first among them is Dragica Gasic, whose apartment was stoned yesterday in Djakovica.

One of the many signatories, Milena Stijovic, says that she signed this petition due to the difficult situation she found herself in after the ban on the dinar, as her family members are ill and she needs to procure medicines and withdraw salaries.

"The international community insists on the normalization of relations between us and the Albanians, but every day is abnormal for us, including everything," she said.

The letter handed over to KFOR also mentions, among other things, the difficult situation of women due to the recent measures taken by the Government of Kosovo.