Dr. Gurakuç Kuçi
Senior Researcher at the Institute for Hybrid Warfare Studies “OCTOPUS”
Kosovo Builds Bridges, Serbia Defends Barricades – Who’s Really Provoking Whom?
The Oberbaum Bridge in Berlin once connected two neighborhoods – Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain – but for 28 years it became a symbol of the division of the world into two power blocs. After the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, the bridge was closed and turned into a “death wall”: anyone who tried to cross it was killed by the border guards of East Germany, supported by the Soviet Union.
When the Wall fell on November 9, 1989, the bridge was reopened and restored, becoming a symbol of unity and hope for a future without walls.
Historically, bridges have been built to connect, not to divide. Wherever barricades are placed on bridges, the forces of violence, fear, and hatred have been at work.
Today, as Kosovo decides to build two new bridges in Mitrovica, not to divide, but to connect the city, Serbia erupts with accusations.
Marko Djuric calls the construction of these bridges “a political weapon” and “a violation of the Brussels Agreement.” But the facts tell a different story:
The 2015 Brussels Agreement clearly foresees the opening and free movement on the existing Ibar Bridge – an agreement that Serbia has never implemented.
Instead of implementation, for over 20 years, the bridge that divides Mitrovica has been kept blocked by parallel structures backed by Belgrade, covered in barricades, stones, concrete, and propaganda.
Is building new bridges a “provocation”?
No.
The provocation was the two-decade blockade of the bridge, in plain view of the international community.
It is not “aggression” in 2025 to build a bridge that reconnects a city within a sovereign state.
Kosovo is building bridges. Serbia is still defending barricades.
The choice between connection and obstruction has never been clearer.
/Argumentum.al
