Kosovo's premier calls for full reopening of key bridge in flashpoint city. But the West is wary

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo's prime minister called on Wednesday for the full reopening of a bridge in the flashpoint city of Mitrovica, saying it would be another step toward free movement and not a threat to anyone. But Western powers are wary it could increase tensions.

The bridge has been closed to passenger vehicle traffic for more than a decade, with minority ethnic Serbs time and again erecting barricades since 2011 because they say ''ethnic cleansing'' would be carried out against them if ethnic Albanians could freely travel over the bridge into their part of the city in northern Kosovo.

Mitrovica is divided into a Serb-dominated north and ethnic Albanian south, and the two sides rarely mix.

Kosovo was a former Serbian province until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, proclaimed in 2008.

For now, the bridge is open to commercial and foot traffic though the Mitrovica local assembly decided last year it should fully reopen, including for passenger vehicles.

But the proposal has caused concern among Western powers, which fear a revival of the interethnic conflict there if there is a free flow of vehicles crossing the bridge.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that freedom of movement, the rule of law, and peace and security were fundamental reasons for wanting to fully reopen the bridge.

The bridge on Ibar River divides the city of Mitrovica. Last week, ethnic Serbs in Kosovo's north protested against the opening of the bridge, which they say has protected them from ethnic cleansing. Serbia's government also has called for the bridge to remain closed.

The NATO-led Kosovo Force peacekeepers, known as KFOR, urged Pristina to refrain from unilateral actions that ''could create tensions.''

Since last year's unrest in northern Mitrovica, KFOR has increased its numbers and equipment along the Kosovo-Serbia border, including at the bridge in Mitrovica.

''We reaffirm that any decision concerning the bridge over the Ibar/Ibër River must be taken through political dialogue and in a coordinated manner,'' it said in a statement Tuesday, using both Serbian and Albanian spellings for the river, which starts in neighboring Montenegro.

Last week, five Western powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy — called on Kosovo to refrain from opening the bridge at the moment.

''The United States does not support any moves to change the current status of the Mitrovica Bridge at this time,'' said the statement, emailed to The Associated Press. ''Opening the bridge to vehicle traffic now increases potential for violence and puts at risk the local population as well as KFOR soldiers — including Americans — who are working to support peace and security in Kosovo.''

U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier on Tuesday said that Washington ''believes strongly that this is not the time to reopen the bridge to vehicle traffic.''

''There's real risk associated with taking this action right now and we believe this risk increases the threat, potential violence, other problems, both for the local community, but also for NATO soldiers, who are working to provide peace and security in Kosovo,'' he said.

Kosovo-Serbia ties remain tense and the 13-year-long normalization talks facilitated by the EU have failed to make progress, especially following a shootout last September between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead.

The EU and the U.S. are pressing both sides to implement agreements that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kurti reached in February and March last year.