Ibar Diversion Needs Approval From Vienna and Podgorica
Retired hydrology professor Jovan Despotovic says diverting the Ibar would require demolishing hills and mountains, as Aleksandar Vucic raises the idea for a fourth time in three days.
Jovan Despotovic, a retired professor of hydraulic engineering and hydrology, told the FoNet news agency that changing the course of the Ibar River is technically unfeasible in the short term, and that no such project can proceed without approval from the Danube Commission, headquartered in Vienna, and the consent of Montenegro, where the river originates. His comments mark the first time an expert voice, backed by a list of concrete obstacles, has entered a debate that until now had been purely political.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke about a possible change to the Ibar’s course four times over three days, from August 9 to August 11. The trigger was the demolition of houses and weekend cottages belonging to Serbs at Gazivode, carried out by authorities in Pristina.
Despotovic did not mince words.
“This is sleepwalking, it has nothing to do with reality, for two reasons. First, it’s impossible to carry out in a short time without demolishing hills and mountains. Second, it simply can’t be done, Europe has to approve it,” Despotovic said.
The professor added that such a project would require years of studies and formal design work, meaning it cannot be carried out unilaterally or on the decision of a single state.
Why Isn’t the Ibar Just a Serbian River?
The Ibar belongs to the Danube basin, and Serbia is a signatory to European treaties on water resources. Despotovic notes that those treaties are binding even for rivers that lie entirely within a signatory’s own territory.
“Well, it’s not a septic tank behind the house. This is truly impermissible. We have European treaties on water resources in Serbia that concern all neighboring countries. We’re not even allowed to do anything on our own with the Drina,” the professor said, adding that UNESCO is also responsible for coordinating natural resources.
The second layer of the problem is the source. The Ibar rises in Montenegro, which makes it an international river, not a domestic matter.
“There’s the European Water Framework Directive. The Ibar is now an international river. Now he wants to say the Ibar is our river and that we can do whatever we want. That has nothing to do with reality, the Montenegrins have to agree to this too,” Despotovic said.
The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River confirmed to N1 that the Ibar falls under the Danube Convention’s framework. It declined to comment on the hypothetical scenario itself, though its statement still named the relevant procedures:
“Questions concerning the legal requirements that apply to a specific project, including whether the project could have cross-border effects or would trigger an obligation for notification, consultation or an environmental impact assessment, must be considered and assessed by the competent authorities in line with the applicable legal framework,” the commission said.
Four Statements in Three Days
On the first day, August 9, Vucic announced that experts had already been called in.
“Since they’re tormenting our people so much, let’s see, we have various reasons for changing the Ibar’s course, and we’ll see what the Albanians do and how they behave,” he said at the time, referring to the construction sector and engineers.
The next day, August 10, he denied it was a threat.
“I’m not threatening anyone at all, why would I threaten anyone, I’m dealing with watercourses on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the domestic law of the Republic of Serbia,” the president clarified.
That same day he mentioned specific locations for the first time. First Lake Gazivode, saying, “And where Lake Gazivode is, where it is today, where it was yesterday, I don’t know whether it will be there tomorrow or where it will be,” and then, that same evening, the Ribarici area, along with an announcement of a working group.
The fourth time, on August 11 in Ivanjica, international experts entered the story too.
“But if you try, in any way, entirely peacefully, with proposals for which you say you’ll form a commission made up of international experts and everything else, well then you have a problem,” Vucic said, adding that there are “countless interpretations” that experts will address.
No concrete project has been presented at any point, not the location of the intervention, not a timeline, not a cost estimate.
What Depends on Gazivode
Lake Gazivode was formed by damming the Ibar and is no ordinary reservoir. It supplies drinking water to roughly a third of Kosovo’s population, and it also cools the power plants that generate about 95 percent of the territory’s electricity. That explains the sharpness of Pristina’s reaction.
Kosovo’s acting president, Aljbuljena Hadziu, asked Kosovo’s diplomats to brief the governments of the countries where they serve.
“This would affect the water, energy, environmental and human security of our Republic. That’s why our diplomats need to inform the capitals where they serve about these statements, and to tell the host countries’ governments about the nature and consequences of this absurd but also threatening idea,” Hadziu said.
From Tirana came a message from Prime Minister Edi Rame, who said the Ibar “will keep flowing in line with geography, not political folklore.” Serbian media had earlier carried the reaction of Behdzet Pacoli as well, who said water is not a tool of pressure.
The European Commission weighed in on August 11. Spokesperson Anita Hiper linked the statements about the river to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
“These statements, including those about possible changes to the river’s course and certain moves, do not contribute to the goal of establishing normal relations between Kosovo and Serbia. That can only be achieved through dialogue,” Hiper said.
Commission spokesperson Arijana Podesta declined to speculate on what impact the whole episode might have on the enlargement process.
A Topic That Remains on the Table
Environmental resources consultant Ljubisa Mijacic from Zubin Potok believes the message was delivered at the wrong moment, but that the issue itself needs to be raised.
“Maybe it’s premature, and maybe the message was delivered too forcefully amid the current political turmoil in Serbia, but this topic has to come to the table. This topic has to be negotiated. I hope more through diplomatic, quiet, Chatham House-style talks than in the public arena, because this topic gets heavily exploited in populist narratives,” Mijacic said.
The only concrete step announced so far is the formation of a working group, and Vucic has said the analysis will take months. Until then, the list of requirements Despotovic laid out remains the yardstick against which the idea will be measured: approval from the Danube Commission, compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive, and Podgorica’s consent.
