Kosovo Police has begun taking over security at the central bridge in Mitrovica, which had been guarded by a special Carabinieri unit since 1999. According to our sources, the unit has already withdrawn from the northern side of the bridge, while Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla is expected to arrive shortly, followed by the withdrawal of the Carabinieri from the southern entrance to the bridge. This long-delayed decision by the KFOR command is understood to be the result of changed circumstances, a reduced potential for conflict and, consequently, the possibility that the bridge could soon be opened to car traffic.
Among the Serb population, the decision has caused unease and is seen as the latest in a series of signs of changing times, marking the departure of the “last guardians of the gate” to the northern part of the city. In the decades following the Kosovo war and the division of Mitrovica into northern and southern parts, generations of members of this special Italian military unit built a particular relationship of trust with the Serb population north of the Ibar River.
The Carabinieri (Arma dei Carabinieri) are, in terms of their composition and status, a military force that performs security duties involving civilians and has full police powers, while also serving as a military police force. At the bridge in Mitrovica, they maintained a 24-hour presence throughout all these years, with the authority to intervene in cases of ethnic tensions and incidents. With their vehicles, they also served, in a sense, as a gate-barrier that could, if necessary, prevent unauthorized vehicles from crossing the bridge, which, at least until now, has been open to pedestrians only.
With this move, the practical possibility of opening the central bridge to motorized traffic is now placed entirely in the hands of the Kosovo government, which could decide to remove the barriers and change the bridge’s traffic status, as well as put that decision into practice.
(Radar, 10.08.2026)
https://radar.nova.rs/drustvo/karabinjeri-se-povukli-sa-mosta-u-mitrovici/