A De Facto Border: The Unresolved State of Mitrovica

The world knows about the famous wall that divided Berlin into east and west, but most people have never heard of the wall that separates the city of Mitrovica in the north of Kosovo. Mitrovica is a city of 350 square kilometers and today has an average population of 84,000. It is very important due to its location, as well as its underground riches. Its history can be traced back seven thousand years. In the 13th century, this city came under the rule of the Serbian Kingdom and when the dates show June 28, 1389, it came under Ottoman rule with the First Battle of Kosovo. The battle took place near a tributary of the Ibre River that runs through Mitrovica, and by the end of the war, the Serbian population had settled north of the Ibre River, while the Albanian population settled south of the river. This is where the first ethnic division of the city can be traced. After 500 years of Ottoman rule, the city, like other Balkan cities, is home to many ethnic groups. Not only Serbs and Albanians. Bosniaks, Turks and other nationalities were also part of the tensions.

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Fast forward to recent history and we see that the Yugoslav Civil War in the middle of Europe in the twentieth century saw the city again divided ethnically and religiously on both sides of the river. With the NATO operation against Serbia in 1999, Serbian forces withdrew to the north of the city and the Serbian population followed them. For some, the river became the natural border of an independent Kosovo.

For many years, the region was plagued by tensions over the division. Albanians, Bosniaks or Turks who remained in the north were forced to live isolated lives. Children moved south to get an education and the population was transported by peacekeepers. In 2008, with Kosovo’s declaration of independence, tensions rose and barricades were tightened along the bridge connecting the two sides. Clashes broke out from time to time. By April 2013, the governments of Pristina and Belgrade met in Brussels and signed a 15-point cooperation agreement. The European Union was instrumental in brokering this agreement, but statements from Belgrade and Pristina indicated that it was not based on solid foundations. In general, the agreement was designed to protect the Serbian population in Mitrovica. The north of Mitrovica and other municipalities with a majority Serb population were granted the right to self-government. The Serbian municipalities would be the highest authority to administer the judicial, security and economic structures of Serbs in Kosovo. Perhaps the most important article in the treaty was that Serbs would be subordinate to Pristina. Serbs characterized this treaty as treason. With this treaty, the division was not destroyed, but rather strengthened.

On August 25, 2015, Serbian authorities in Mitrovica built a 2-meter wall to revive the bridge over the Ibre River as part of a project mediated by the European Union, and the city was completely separated. The wall was met with outrage by both Kosovo and Serbia, and it was demolished in December 2016. While the demolition of the wall was an important step in the normalization process, it was not enough to soften the political climate.

In this city, the adoption of the philosophy of building bridges instead of walls is unlikely, and ongoing problems and tension continue to be experienced. It is difficult to say that the agreement signed in Brussels is being implemented. The public is dissatisfied and, at times, provocative actions lead to the rise of nationalism and accompanying problems. It appears that in the long term, the divided state of Mitrovice, which is referred to as a de facto border, does not seem to be solvable.