The security expert, Bejtush Gashi, has said that if the Government of Kosovo decides to open the Ibri Bridge without international coordination, the consequences will be unpredictable.
In an interview on KTV's "Interaktiv" on Tuesday, Gashi considered that the Government of Kosovo should "necessarily" consult the decision to open the bridge with the international community.
"If such a decision is not coordinated with the international ones, the issue of the bridge will be complex and problematic. Article 137 of the Constitution states that the NATO mission has responsibility for the general security of Kosovo and if it is endangered, in all the plans we have as Kosovo, it is the third responder. It has the responsibility to reduce tensions, and Kosovo's institutions do not have the capacity to face a hypothetical situation that is created as a result of internal tensions or international intervention. The Government of Kosovo must necessarily consult with internationals about such a decision and create preconditions for the bridge to open. If such a decision is taken without coordination, it can escalate tensions with internationals and the consequences are unpredictable," he said.
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According to Gashi, if there are no good relations with the internationals, then it will have an impact in other important areas. He cited sanctions as an example.
"It is not good that issues of a technical nature come to us as primary issues. Such decisions can affect the breakdown of relations with internationals. If good international relations do not exist, they can affect the security, economic and diplomatic fields. As a result, we have a stalemate in international cooperation at the political and diplomatic level. And Kosovo has economic sanctions from the EU as a result", said Professor Gashi.
Gashi sees what is happening with the Ibri Bridge more as a pre-election campaign.
"It is more of a pre-electoral campaign than a reality that would create a mitigating circumstance for such a decision to be normal and for this to be an internal issue and the responsibility of Kosovo's institutions and not a matter of international intervention to free the bridge," he added.
The Government of Kosovo insists that the bridge over the Ibër River should be opened and that there are no arguments for it to remain closed to traffic. The Minister of the Interior, Xelal Sveçla, expressed his conviction that the bridge will be opened, but "when it is a matter for the experts". Internationals do not agree with the plan of the Government of Kosovo. The European Union and QUINT have insisted that this issue should be discussed in the dialogue in Brussels, which has been rejected as an idea by the Kosovo authorities.
In the north, a protest has been announced for the next day near the Ibri Bridge for what they said was the "bad situation of the Serbs". Media in Serbia have described the protest as "peaceful and democratic against the opening of the Ibri Bridge".
