Plan for opening the Ibrit Bridge, Vucic: It won't work, I believe KFOR will do the job

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday he expected the opening of the main bridge over the Ibar River in Kosovo on Aug. 14 or 15, as well as the installation of new Serbian leaders in the country by foreign agencies, without offering any evidence.

He made these statements at a time when Kosovo authorities warned that the main bridge over Ibar – which divides South Mitrovica with An albanian majority, North Mitrovica, a Serb majority – must be fully opened for circulation.

It is currently open to pedestrians, but not cars, and italian carabinieri from nato's KFOR mission in Kosovo patrols. Vucic has called on KFOR not to allow the bridge to open. The Serbian president claimed that the new Serbian figures, who he says will be installed in Kosovo, "will portray them as brave even though they are not, and will try to separate them from Belgrade" and that they will respond to Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

"Let me tell you immediately that it will not work," Vucic told a news conference, without specifically naming any agency. The largest party of Serbs in Kosovo is The Serb List, which enjoys the support of official Belgrade. Representatives of quint countries in Kosovo have publicly said they do not support the opening of the bridge at this time.

The QUINT countries are: the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and France. The European Union has also said that pristina should not take "unilateral decisions". KFOR has said several times in recent days that it will not hesitate to act if it observes actions near the bridge that could affect the safety of citizens.

Kosovo authorities have started to conduct inspections for the opening of the bridge and earlier this week contracted a company to assess the bridge's power holder before opening for vehicle circulation.

Kosovo and Serbia have also been able to open the bridge, first in 2015 and later in 2016, as part of the eu-mediated dialogue. Its opening has stalled several times, and the international factor demands that this issue be the subject of dialogue again.