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Despite Protest, Serbia Sends Train to Northern Kosovo Serbian Nationalist Train Halts at Border With Kosovo
(about 5 hours later)
BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia on Saturday opened a railway link to northern Kosovo, where most of that country’s ethnic Serbian minority lives, despite protests from Kosovo’s government, which called the move a provocation and an aggressive violation of its sovereignty. BELGRADE, Serbia — A train decorated with Serbian nationalist slogans and images departed on Saturday from Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, and headed for northern Kosovo, but it halted at the border in a stunt that set off a dramatic escalation of tensions between the former wartime foes.
Serbian officials in Belgrade saw off a Russian-made train decorated with the Serbian flag and inscribed with “Kosovo Is Serbian” in 20 languages. Officials in Kosovo had protested that the train’s planned route into Kosovo was a violation of their country’s sovereignty and promised not to let it in.
A former Serbian province, Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize the split and has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo’s Serb-dominated northern region. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia ordered the train stopped in Raska, Serbia, as it approached the border with Kosovo, a former Serbian province, claiming that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo had tried to mine the railway.
Saturday’s promotional ride was the first from Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to the northern town of Mitrovica in Kosovo since the 1998-99 Kosovo war. The journey is expected to take about 10 hours on long-established railway tracks and with several stops along the way. Officials said it could turn into a regular service after a trial period. The train was painted with Serbian flags, religious Christian Orthodox scenes and the words “Kosovo is Serbian” in 20 languages.
“This is like a mobile exhibition presenting our cultural heritage,” declared Marko Djuric, who runs the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo. Mr. Djuric described the train link as important for northern Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia does not recognize the split and has sought to maintain influence in northern Kosovo, where most of the country’s ethnic Serbian minority lives.
He warned that any attempt to block the train from entering Kosovo would present a violation of the right to freedom of movement. At a news conference in Belgrade on Saturday, Mr. Vucic accused Kosovo of plans to arrest the train’s driver and passengers.
“I don’t see why something that is part of world heritage would present a provocation for anyone,” he said. “This was an ambition to provoke a conflict, to start a wider conflict in this territory that we consider as ours,” he said. “It was my decision to stop the train in Raska to preserve the freedom and lives of our people, to prevent a wider conflict and show that we want peace.”
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo increased after the recent detention in France of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovan prime minister, on an arrest warrant from Serbia. “We sent a train, not a tank,” he added.
Edita Tahiri, a minister in Kosovo’s government, on Friday accused Serbia of threatening regional stability and urged the European Union to intervene. President Hashim Thaci of Kosovo wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday that his country respected the free movement of people and goods but that a train covered in nationalist banners that violated Kosovo’s Constitution and laws was “completely unacceptable.”
“This is a provocation against Kosovo, which shows that Serbia has openly come out with aggressive politics threatening Kosovo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and its national security,” she said. The train was to be the first to travel from Belgrade to Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, since the 1998-99 Kosovo war. The train later turned back to Belgrade.