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Aleksandar Vučić's epic dreams with the Ibar River

2026-08-19 17:27:16Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Aleksandar Vucic

Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? threatens to divert the flow of the Ibar River in response to Pristina's moves. Radical rhetoric as a sign of strength or weakness?

The measures taken by the authorities in Pristina against the Serbian community in Kosovo have caused discontent in Belgrade, and as a response, Aleksandar Vu?i? mentioned the possibility of changing the course of the Ibar River. Let's see, as Vu?i? said, "what the Albanians will do and how they will behave then."

The Ibër-Lepenc water system is of strategic importance for Kosovo's drinking water supply and energy production. Therefore, it is understandable that this threatening message has caused much concern in Kosovo and in international circles.

Pristina emphasizes that international law and international conventions for the protection of transboundary water resources expressly prohibit the use of water as a weapon or tool of political pressure. The Ibri is an international watercourse, which begins in Montenegro, flows through Kosovo and further through Central Serbia where it flows into the Western Morava. By changing the course, other countries in the Danube basin would also be at risk.

The epic dreams of Aleksandar Vu?i?

Experts in Serbia warn that this is a huge undertaking that could take decades. It would require huge sums of money, and redirecting the river's natural flow through the rocky terrain of the Dinaric Mountains would require extensive earthworks, the construction of tunnels and dams.

Such an intervention would also threaten an ecological catastrophe in the entire river basin. Retired professor of hydraulic engineering and hydrology, Jovan Despotovi?, told FoNet that Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i?'s statements about changing the course of the Ibar are "like sleepwalking and that this is a project that cannot be implemented in a short time without destroying hills and mountains, and is not even considered under European regulations."

Megalomaniac new ideas

When it comes to the President of Serbia, it is difficult to say that he lacks megalomaniacal ideas. That is why it is difficult to assess whether this is a typical performance for the domestic audience that will be quickly forgotten, or whether he really means it.

However, Vu?i? announced that he had initiated the formation of a working group consisting of engineers and construction experts, which would examine the possibility of changing the course of the Ibar River. He sees this as Serbia's sovereign right to do so on its territory.

Changing the course of the Ibar River was born as an idea in 1985, and since the Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) was worked on during those years, it is often mentioned in that political context, but the idea was eventually abandoned.

The fantasies of Serbian nationalists

The chairman of the Board of Directors of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Dušan Janji?, told DW that "anything can be expected from Vu?i?, but I did not expect him to return to the years 1983-1985, when the fantasies of Serbian nationalists began. By changing the course of the Ibar River, they wanted to wipe out Kosovo, and this shows that they did not want to deal with Kosovo except at the level of promises and slogans about Kosovo as the 'heart of Serbia'. I also see this as his attempt to evade responsibility for everything he did in relation to Kosovo - and perhaps even beyond - to gain an alibi in this political turmoil and to say that nothing more could have been done," says Janji?.

What is particularly worrying, according to him, "is that objectively this is not a rational project. This is not a project that solves a problem, but rather an ideological and propaganda project - if we can call it that - which serves to create even more unrest and noise in the region, so that people think that without you there is no salvation and that there will be a flood," Janjic assessed for DW.

Serbs also live in Kosovo

It seems that he has not considered at all that water in Kosovo is not only necessary for Albanians and that changing the flow would also endanger the Serbian community in Kosovo.

Dušan Janji? notes that "the threat to harm Albanians is empty words, because for example, the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal was built for 20 years in a much more organized and wealthy state, while the changes in the Ibar would take 50 years."

So, Vu?i? will hardly be able to see how Albanians will suffer, but all the inhabitants of Kosovo will be harmed. And what has already been harmed is undoubtedly the image of Serbia itself and its leadership. "Because, when you go public with such statements, everyone will ask themselves whether this is a partner with whom to work," warns Janji?.

How much do these kinds of statements endanger the position of Serbs in Kosovo? Our interlocutor believes that "the position of the Serb community on the ground has been damaged by the monopoly of the Serbian List. This position has been cemented by a social corruption of active political actors among Serbs, there is no multi-party system in that community, and unfortunately the European Union (EU) helped to destroy it. Democracy and the multi-party system were simply not a topic of normalization," notes Janjic.

Missionary or Sisyphus?

The Serbian president has also faced a lot of criticism on the domestic front. The leader of the Center of Serbia (SRCE) party, Zdravko Ponos, said that "while Vu?i? practices becoming a missionary, he should first try to solve the sewage problem in Bor?a (a suburb of Belgrade)."

However, Dušan Janji? believes that another comparison is much more appropriate: "I think this is truly an epic dimension of these appearances as part of the election campaign, but it also seems to me that here we are dealing more with the myth of Sisyphus. That is why all foreign policy is now engaged in the depreciation of everything that is happening at the domestic level in order to maintain power," Janji? asserts in his statement to DW./ DW


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