PRISTINA/BRUSSELS, Aug 12 (Balkan View) – The United States and European Union have responded to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s remarks about potentially changing the course of the Ibar River, warning that tensions between Serbia and Kosovo risk undermining efforts to normalise relations.
The U.S. State Department said peace and stability in the Western Balkans remained a priority for Washington and linked the latest dispute to the unresolved relationship between Belgrade and Pristina.
“The normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo is a necessary part of this process,” a State Department spokesperson told Radio Free Europe, according to Kosovo media.
The European Union struck a similar tone, saying statements about potentially changing the river’s course did not contribute to normalisation.
“The statements, including those about possible changes to the river’s course, and the actions, do not support the objective of having a normal relationship between Kosovo and Serbia,” EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Annita Hipper said.
“This can only be achieved through dialogue,” she added.
Hipper also linked the dispute directly to the European ambitions of both Kosovo and Serbia.
“We also recall that progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is a prerequisite for either side to advance on the European path,” she said.
Vučić Says Serbia Is Examining Options
The controversy began after Vučić said Serbia had called on engineers and other experts to examine possible changes to the course of the Ibar.
Vučić linked the idea to what he described as mistreatment of Serbs by Kosovo authorities.
“We have various reasons for changing the course of the Ibar, and then we will see what the Albanians will do and how they will behave,” Vučić said.
He subsequently rejected accusations that he was threatening Kosovo, saying Serbia was considering management of waterways on its own territory.
The Ibar originates in Montenegro, flows through Kosovo and then enters Serbia. It feeds the Gazivode, known in Kosovo as Ujman, reservoir and the Ibar-Lepenac system, which is important for water supplies, agriculture, industry and energy infrastructure in Kosovo.
Albania and Serbia Trade Accusations
Vučić’s comments triggered a diplomatic dispute involving Albania.
Albanian Foreign Minister Ferit Hoxha said a river forming part of a transboundary water system could not be treated exclusively as an internal matter when measures could affect another territory’s environment, water security and population.
Hoxha said water could not be used as an instrument of political pressure and called on Serbia to respect its international obligations governing transboundary waters.
Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric rejected Tirana’s intervention, arguing that Albania was not a riparian state in the Ibar basin and had no territorial or hydrological basis for determining how Serbia managed water resources within its territory.
Djuric also accused Albania of diverting attention from the treatment of Kosovo Serbs and raised concerns about what he called “Greater Albania” and ethnic expansionism.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama responded with unusually sharp language, rejecting any Albanian territorial ambitions and saying the dispute was about the potential cross-border consequences of altering the river.
“The Ibër is a transboundary water system,” Rama said.
He also directly challenged Serbia’s claim to Kosovo, saying: “Serbia lost Kosova.”
Washington and Brussels Focus on Dialogue
Neither the U.S. response cited by Kosovo media nor the EU statement directly addressed whether Serbia could legally divert the Ibar or what consequences such a project could have under international water law.
Instead, both focused on the broader political implications of the dispute.
The EU’s reminder that progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is a condition for European advancement gives the controversy a potential accession dimension, particularly for Serbia, an EU candidate.
Washington similarly placed the dispute within its wider objective of stability and normalisation in the Western Balkans.
The latest confrontation comes as relations between Belgrade and Pristina remain strained and adds control of water resources and critical infrastructure to an already long list of unresolved disputes.