{"id":10213,"date":"2026-08-10T15:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/10213\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T15:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:20:11","slug":"nato-peacekeepers-transition-at-flashpoint-bridge-alarms-kosovo-serb-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/10213\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO Peacekeepers’ ‘Transition’ at Flashpoint Bridge Alarms Kosovo Serb Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Kosovo Police patrol car on the Iber bridge in Mitrovica, August 10, 2026. Photo: BIRN\/Florinda Kelmendi.<\/p>\n

The NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said on Monday that it had begun a gradual transition away from its permanent presence on the main bridge in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, citing \u201can improved security situation in Kosovo\u201d.<\/p>\n

The town has been split into a northern, Serb-run half and a southern, Kosovo Albanian-run half, since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, sparking numerous incidents since then.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with the improved security situation in Kosovo, this is part of the process for optimising KFOR\u2019s posture,\u201d KFOR told BIRN on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis process will be gradual, conditions based, and is being closely coordinated with all relevant stakeholders, including representatives of the Institutions in Kosovo and of international organisations, as well as with representatives of the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule-of-Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX),\u201d it added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, after a Kosovo Police vehicle appeared on Monday on the bridge, Srpska Lista, the Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party, said it strongly opposed the withdrawal of KFOR members from the bridge and called for an urgent meeting with KFOR commander Ozkan Ulutas.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the extremely complex political and security situation, as well as the fact that the area around the main bridge has for decades been a site of serious tensions and conflicts, we believe that any decision that could affect security at this sensitive location must be made with the utmost care and with full consideration for the concerns of citizens,\u201d Srpska Lista said.<\/p>\n

According to Srpska Lista, Kosovo Police \u201chave failed to build the trust of the Serbian people through their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir conduct in numerous situations, including their support for actions that we consider unlawful and directed against the Serbian people and their institutions, has further deepened mistrust and the sense of insecurity among Serbs,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Apart from the main bridge over the Iber\/Ibar in Mitrovica, Kosovo\u2019s government has opened <\/a>two additional bridges connecting the southern and northern, Serb-run, parts of the city.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Monday, meanwhile, KFOR announced that it has begun a \u201cgradual integration of Kosovo Police personnel into KFOR\u2019s security architecture\u201d at the Decani Monastery in western Kosovo, an important site for Serbian Orthodox believers. The mission said the move was part of a \u201cbroader process to optimise its security posture and will be implemented gradually and based on conditions on the ground\u201d.<\/p>\n

KFOR noted that it \u201cremains the first responder responsible for the Monastery site\u2019s protection and will maintain a visible presence in south and north Mitrovica and in northern Kosovo\u201d.<\/p>\n

The monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been under KFOR protection since the end of the war in Kosovo in 1999. The mission said it would maintain close cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church, Kosovo institutions, international organisations and the Serbian Armed Forces, in order \u201cto safeguard mutual transparency, cooperation and trust, and to avoid misunderstandings\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cKFOR\u2019s commitment to the security of the Visoki Decani Monastery and to the safety of all local communities is steadfast,\u201d the mission said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Kosovo Police patrol car on the Iber bridge in Mitrovica, August 10, 2026. Photo: BIRN\/Florinda Kelmendi. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1188,761,5876,5877],"class_list":["post-10213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-kfor","tag-kosovo","tag-north-mitrovica","tag-srpska-lista"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}