Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic issued a stark warning to NATO and Washington on Wednesday, saying he and many in the region are deeply fearful about the fate of Serbs and Christians in Kosovo after allied troops began stepping back from a key bridge.
“I am afraid, and everyone is afraid,” Vucic told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview. “That is why we will beg and ask. It won’t be hard for me to phone everyone, even if I have to call Washington, to help with this issue… Enough with the persecution of the Serbian and Christian population in Kosovo and Metohija, and I believe that the people in Washington will understand that.”
The comments come as NATO’s Kosovo Force, known as KFOR, begins a gradual transition away from the Ibar Bridge in the northern city of Mitrovica, handing day-to-day security responsibilities to local Kosovo Police. The bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic and guarded by KFOR for years, effectively separating the predominantly Albanian Muslim south of Mitrovica from the predominantly Serbian Christian north.
KFOR announced in August that it would retain a visible presence in northern Kosovo but would no longer permanently guard the bridge. The bridge remains open to pedestrians, but Vucic fears that reopening it to vehicles could ignite tensions and leave the local Christian population vulnerable to attack.
“Everyone is afraid,” Vucic said, referring to Serbs and Eastern Europeans who watch the transition with alarm. He has been on a diplomatic blitz, calling NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Union leaders, and officials in Washington to urge them to pause or reverse the decision and keep KFOR in charge of the bridge.
Vucic’s warning arrives at a politically volatile moment. Serbia faces snap elections in mid-to-late October, and the region is awaiting a mid-September judgment from the Hague in the crimes-against-humanity case against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. Many observers believe Thaci was unfairly prosecuted — by the same Jack Smith who later pursued criminal charges against then-President Donald Trump — because Thaci had cooperated with the Trump administration in its first term to seek a long-term settlement between Serbia and Kosovo.
Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti has drawn widespread condemnation from NATO, European allies, and both the Biden and Trump administrations for what critics describe as unilateral actions that stoke instability. Kurti endorsed Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a fact that has not endeared him to Republican circles.
Ric Grenell, who served as acting Director of National Intelligence in Trump’s first term and oversaw the Serbia-Kosovo talks, told Breitbart News on Wednesday that Kurti cannot be trusted.
“Albin Kurti has been condemned by NATO, the Europeans and both the Biden and Trump Administrations because he unilaterally creates chaos and instability,” Grenell said. “America has never seen Kosovo with such a fascist leader. I’ve regularly been to the northern part of Kosovo where many Serbs make their homes and I’m concerned, once again, by the current situation unfolding. People who believe differently should be able to live next to each other in peace, but they also deserve politicians who don’t work to destabilize delicate situations.”
In May, Vucic sat down with Breitbart News for an extended exclusive interview in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, where he spoke at length about regional security and the future of Kosovo. His latest appeal suggests that little has changed in his concerns in the months since.
The Ibar Bridge has long been a flashpoint in the divided city of Mitrovica, where ethnic Albanian and Serb communities live on opposite banks of the Ibar River. KFOR has maintained a permanent guard at the bridge as part of its peacekeeping mission, a role that has been credited with preventing clashes but also with freezing the city’s division.
The decision to hand over security to Kosovo Police — a force that is majority ethnic Albanian — has raised alarms among Serbs who worry they will not be protected if violence breaks out. The EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has stalled repeatedly, and Vucic has accused Kurti of provoking crises to distract from his own domestic problems.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Serbia refuses to recognize. The United States and most EU countries recognize Kosovo, while Russia and China back Serbia’s position. NATO has led the KFOR mission since 1999, following the alliance’s bombing campaign against Serbia during the Kosovo War.
The pace of KFOR’s transition has not been fully detailed, but officials have said it will be gradual and conditions-based. Still, Vucic is pressing for a halt. “We will beg and ask,” he repeated, making clear that he is willing to appeal directly to any power that could pressure Pristina to reverse course.
It remains unclear what Washington or Brussels will do in response. Breitbart News reached out to U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker and the U.S. mission to NATO for comment but had not received a response by press time.
The situation has drawn comparisons to earlier crises in the Balkans, where international peacekeepers have often been the only thing separating hostile communities. Vucic’s warning that “everyone is afraid” underscores the fragility of the region’s peace — and the high stakes for NATO and the West as they decide how far to step back.
For now, the world watches as the clock ticks toward the Hague ruling, the snap elections, and an uncertain future for the Ibar Bridge and the people who live on either side of it.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/02/exclusive-everyone-is-afraid-serbian-president-warns-nato-over-kosovo-bridge-christian-persecution/