Vucic: I'll Beg Europe, Washington Over Ibar Bridge

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today in Raska that he will first ask European officials, and if necessary Washington, for help keeping the main bridge over the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica from opening to traffic. The question came from a TV Most reporter, who asked about Pristina’s announcement that it will take over the bridge from KFOR on September 1, the same day the school year starts in Kosovo. Vucic made the comment while touring the final construction work at the Raska elementary school.

The president said the fear of that date is one he shares with ordinary citizens.

“I’m afraid, and everyone is afraid. That’s why we’ll ask and beg. And I’ll call again, and it won’t be hard for me to phone everyone, even if I have to call Washington, to ask everyone to help with this. Everyone who can help. I’ll first ask people in Europe to help. If people in Europe want to help, if they can… I’ll call Washington. I’ll ask them too not to let this happen,” Vucic said.

He added that “the persecution of the Serb and Christian population in Kosovo and Metohija has gone on long enough” and said he believes Washington will understand this, though, as he noted, there are no guarantees.

Has September 1 Been Officially Confirmed?

No, at least not at the time Vucic spoke. The date that surfaced in the reporter’s question, and later in the headlines of several Serbian outlets, has no cited official source. Neither KFOR, NATO, nor Kosovo institutions have publicly confirmed that September 1 specifically was set as the day the bridge changes hands. The latest statement from Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke only in general terms, saying Kosovo institutions are in touch with KFOR about the “full opening” of the bridge and its handover to Kosovo Police, without naming a specific date.

What has been confirmed is that KFOR began a gradual transition of its permanent presence at the main bridge on August 10, part of a previously announced “optimization” of the mission. On August 20, Vucic sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, asking the alliance not to allow the bridge to open to motor traffic and for KFOR to stay in place. The bridge has been closed to traffic since 1999 and splits the city into a Serb-majority north and an Albanian-majority south.

The Jarinje Promise Goes Unfulfilled Again

During his visit to the Raska district, Vucic also brought up the Jarinje administrative crossing, though he did not go there this time either. Back in March 2026, the president had announced that “next week” he would travel to the crossing from the central Serbia side and sit in a container, one of the so-called modern checkpoint offices, to wait and talk with citizens crossing the border. That week passed back in March, and the visit still has not happened, not even during his full-day stay in the Raska district.

Instead, Vucic announced a new infrastructure project for Raska’s residents. He said a framework agreement for a fast road running from Kraljevo through Raska and Novi Pazar should be signed within the next two months.

“It will reach Raska, and Novi Pazar, and Jarinje… and Kosovska Mitrovica, if we manage to agree on that. Because we have the money to build it,” the president said, adding that there are no guarantees, but that he believes he will “reach out to everyone, in the end, to beg for his people, for the freedom of our people, for the peace and calm of our children.”

The Ibar bridge story has followed Vucic’s public appearances almost daily since KFOR announced its gradual withdrawal. Serbian News previously reported that the president had announced a call with Rutte on the same issue, a call that, by his own account, was not officially scheduled at the time. Until KFOR, NATO, and Pristina confirm or deny September 1 as the handover date, the Ibar bridge remains an open question that, going by the pattern so far, Vucic is handling with phone calls and appeals rather than concrete steps on the ground.