Naser Sertolli writes in an editorial that the problem of Mitrovica’s division has only one address, that of Kosovo Government led by Hashim Thaci. He says all events in Mitrovica are somehow linked to Thaci: when the ethnic partition of the city began, Thaci was prime minister of the provisional government. He was prime minister also when the barricade was placed and he is still prime minister, although an outgoing one, when the barricade took on a different form, that of a botanic garden.

Sertolli asks whether Thaci was in a position to prevent things from coming this far and answers by saying that Thaci could have taken control of the city when NATO troops came into Kosovo and the Serb forces have almost completely withdrawn. Fifteen years later, Thaci and his government failed to undertake the slightest efforts to remove the barricade which was initially placed after Thaci ordered a police operation in 2011 allegedly to restore law and order in the north, says Sertolli. “We all know the consequences and results of this operation”.

Furthermore, Sertolli finds Thaci responsible also for the recent action in Mitrovica where local Serbs removed the concrete barricade and planted tree on the bridge and naming it “Peace Park”. He says the park actually prevents free movement and was organised by the Mayor of Mitrovica North, Goran Rakic, who got elected to the post following elections within the legal framework of Kosovo and who publicly stated that the “park” was constructed in consultation with the Government of Serbia. “Why should Kosovo local authorities consult Belgrade? Were we not told that Brussels Agreement, initialed by Thaci and his Serbian counterpart, puts an end to Serbia’s interference in our internal affairs?”