A new square erected over the bridge in the divided northern town of Mitrovica, apparently designed to stop it reopening to traffic, has revived tensions between local Serbs and Albanians in the south.

Kosovo Serbs have begun building a square named after a medieval Serbian emperor on the bridge that separates the ethniclly and politically divided town in northern Kosovo.

Construction on the “Tsar Lazar” square began on Wednesday by the same construction company that removed the recently built “Peace Park” there.

Interior Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, said that the issue of the “Peace Park” and the construction of the “Tsar Lazar” square should be resolved through political means. Rexhepi said the Kosovo Police has not yet taken the order to remove the barricade on River Iber/Ibar because “there was no reason” for such a move.

“The Police don’t safeguard the blockade but the police is there to prevent a possible interethnic incident. This is not the job of the police but of politics. The police is not responsible for removing it, it acts when it receives orders”, Rexhepi said for RTK.

Members of Albanian community in northern Kosovo, built last night “Adem Jashari” square at “Bosniacka Mahalla,” in Mitrovica North.

They worked for approximately three hours at this square, building a concrete vase with a diameter 1.5 meters at the main square in “Bosniacka Mahala,” and ended their works at around 2:30 a.m.

In Bosnjacka Mahala, in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, was set a huge concrete block with a board on which is written the name of KLA leader Adem Jashari. It is assumed that it was a response to building the Square “Tzar Lazar”, near the main bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica. 

On the block was set the mast with Albanian flag and is written in Albanian "Shesi Adem Jashari" which means "Square Adem Jashari". A large concrete block partially obstructs traffic in this multi-ethnic part of town, because it was set in the middle of the crossroad.

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said today that "Peace Park" in Mitrovica remains and that Serbs have no reason to be concerned.

Djuric said from Mitrovica that no one in the city, and especially Deputy Prime minister Edita Tahiri, will demolish anything and it should be discussed at the table on how to build better future for Serbs and Albanians.

Djuric visited construction works on the future Tsar Lazar square, located near the main Ibar/Iber river bridge where Serb have built "Peace Park" after they removed barricades.

Mayor of Mitrovica, Agim Bahtiri, has reacted to what he considered to be the most serious provocation to peace and security in Mitrovica and called on Kosovo institutions to undertake all necessary measures to bring normality to the city.

Bahtiri said that the decision of northern leadership to begin construction of a square on the northern bank of River Iber/Ibar is a criminal act and is politically motivated. He also said this construction will prevent normalization of the overall situation.

Dardan Gashi, outgoing Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, told Gazeta Express today that the government is committed to removing the illegal park on Iber/Ibar bridge in Mitrovica. “Our inspectors are there, with bulldozers, and we are determined to remove the illegal construction. We are waiting for them to remove it as we have agreed, but if they don’t, we will intervene. According to my information, the situation there is not very quiet. EULEX members are also there on stand-by,” Gashi was quoted as saying.

The ban for the construction of houses in Brdjani, in North Mitrovica, remains in force after meeting which mayors of the southern and northern part of Mitrovica hold. 

Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Dardan Gashi met with the mayors of North and South Mitrovica Goran Rakic and Agim Bahtiri to solve the problem related to the "controversial" building of houses in Brdjani. However, the meeting did not result in any concrete agreement, reads a statement of the Ministry. 

Director of Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Marko Djuric, at the construction of the “Tsar Lazar” square in the northern part of Mitrovica said that “all citizens of Serbia and of Serb nationality living in Kosovo have no reasons to be afraid from Pristina’s threats heard several days ago from Edita Tahiri”.

According to him, threats about destroying the “Peace Park” do not contribute to resolution of the problem. He said the “Peace Park” is a permanent category and will remain where it is and noted that all problems need to be resolved through dialogue.

  The Administrative Office for Northern Mitrovica will be integrated into new municipal administration set up after the previous local elections, Office Head Adrijana Hodzic stated.

“The Administrative Office is the cornerstone for the future municipality of Northern Mitrovica. There is a system, there is staff and all employees will be transferred to the municipality of Northern Mitrovica,” Hodzic said in a programme 'Slobodno Srpski' (Speak Serbian freely) broadcast by the Serb TV network in Kosovo-Metohija.