Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo’s north protested against the opening of the bridge on the Iber River, which they say has protected them from ethnic cleansing and become symbolic of the divided city. Protesters gathered around the Iber bridge following pressure from the government of Kosovo to open the bridge that separates the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the town. The bridge is remembered for having stopped the ethnic cleansing of 1999 and 2000.