Closed roads leave Kosovo mountain border region cut off

For nearly three decades, closed roads along the Kosovo-Montenegro border have left mountain communities cut off from farmland, trade routes, and each other. Landowners say unfinished border demarcation and missing local crossings force long detours, hurting livelihoods and tourism in the Accursed Mountains.

Key Takeaways

• A local road near the Cakorr/Cakor pass has stayed closed since 1999, after NATO-led peacekeepers shut it following Montenegro complaints about wood smuggling.
• Landowners must detour via the Kulla crossing—about 110 kilometres one way—to reach property that once sat a short trip away.
• Kosovo and Montenegro signed a 2015 border demarcation deal, ratified by Kosovo in 2018, but ground marking and 1.9 kilometres of Kosovo-side road work remain unfinished.
• Podgorica says Pristina has not responded to reopening initiatives; Kosovo authorities cite unresolved “technical issues.”
• A separate Decan–Plav mountain road has also stayed unfinished for more than a decade.

Why does the closed Kosovo-Montenegro road still matter?

Once a year, Mehdi Berisha travels from Kosovo to Montenegro to pay tax on 23 hectares near the Cakorr/Cakor pass, about 1,850 metres above sea level. Generations of his family farmed meadowland in the Accursed Mountains when both places belonged to socialist Yugoslavia and no border blocked the route from Dubovik.

In 1999, NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo closed the old road the family had used since 1972. Kosovo later declared independence and was recognised by Montenegro, yet the neighbours have not finished demarcating their joint border, and the road remains shut. Berisha is among dozens of Albanian and Montenegrin landowners who say isolation damages the local economy and tourism plans.

“It has been 27 years, and we are still waiting for a solution regarding our property,” Berisha told BIRN, calling for a border crossing at Cakorr. Campaign organiser Muhamet Nikci said nearly three decades of closure blocked access to properties and made movement harder. Agron Nikqi, speaking for nine villages, said the road has existed since the 1920s and would ease life for thousands of residents.

What has blocked a local border crossing for years?

In 2014, Kosovo and Montenegro agreed to open an international crossing at Kotlovi-Kucishte. The next year they signed a deal on their 79-kilometre border based on the 1974 Yugoslav constitution. After political wrangling, Kosovo lawmakers ratified it in 2018 as a condition for an EU visa waiver.

Marking the line on the ground is still unfinished, as is construction of another 1.9 kilometres of road on the Kosovo side. Kosovo’s government has blamed delays on “technical issues,” saying the ministry will facilitate border traffic once those are resolved. Montenegro’s interior ministry told BIRN there is “not a single problem” on its side and that Kosovo has not responded to a decade of diplomatic initiatives.

On the Montenegrin slopes near Velika, Vuksan Vuletic said free movement would matter for the Lim Valley. Café owner Nedzad Cecunjanin in Murino described Peja/Pec as “like a second mother” for education, wartime safety, and family ties, now disrupted since 1999. He appealed to both governments, the EU, and foreign embassies to reopen the road. Some Montenegrin villagers, however, fear reopening could lead Kosovo to seek more land.

Are other Kosovo mountain routes also unfinished?

In the Beleg Mountains, a road linking Decan/Decane and Plav in Montenegro has been unfinished for more than a decade. Local officials say about 70 per cent of residents rely on forestry, agriculture, and farming. Resident Agron Demukaj said opening it would help people reach property and grow family businesses.

Work stalled over Kosovo’s Law on Special Protective Zones around the UNESCO-listed Visoki Decani Monastery, then again after a contractor failed to finish. Decan mayor Bashkim Ramosaj said border police took measurements but progress has stalled, while a new tender is being prepared. Montenegro again said Kosovo has shown no readiness to open a crossing there.

According to Balkan Insight, hikers and residents on both sides still wait for crossings that would reconnect communities and commerce. For related regional economic coverage, see BlasterPost’s Fintech & Crypto Alerts hub.