Hundreds gathered around the bridge on Wednesday, following pressure from the Government of Kosovo to open the bridge that divides the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the city.
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00:00Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo's north have protested against the opening of a bridge on Iba River,
00:06which they say has protected them from ethnic cleansing.
00:10Hundreds of ethnic Serbs gathered on Wednesday following pressure from the Kosovan government
00:15to open the main bridge in Mitrovica.
00:20This bridge, which is here, was saved by Kosovo's multi-ethnic community
00:25and their political concept, which forced Serbia to bomb it for 78 days.
00:31Until this bridge, until this coast, there was ethnic cleansing,
00:35which persisted for 99 years and 2009.
00:39The bridge on Iba River divides the city of Mitrovica.
00:43Its north has a large ethnic Serb minority.
00:47The bridge has been closed since 2011, when ethnic Serbs started constructing barricades.
00:53Last year, the Mitrovica Town Hall Assembly, or Parliament, decided it should be opened.