Sparks Fly As Tension Between Serbia And Albanian Thugs Of Kosovo Due To Patriotic Train ” Serbia Is Kosovo ” Arrives In Full Colors ! (PHOTOS)

(Photos) A Serbian train halted at the border with Kosovo and bearing signs reading “Kosovo is Serbian,” has fueled a major crisis in the Balkans and escalated a potential Russia-West row over dominance in the heart of the war-torn region.

Yesterday, we were on the verge of clashes,” Serbian President Nikolić said after he met with Serbia’s top security body. “We are a country which has to protect its people and its territory.”

Nikolić accused Albanians of “wanting war” and said he’s willing to send troops to Kosovo.

Serbia accused Kosovo’s leaders on Sunday of “wanting war” and warned that it would defend “every inch” of its territory, a day after the train, provocatively decorated in Serbian Christian Orthodox symbols and flags, was prevented from entering the neighboring nation.

Kosovo, supported by much of the West, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. But, Serbia and its Slavic Orthodox ally, Russia, do not recognize the split.

Serbia has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo’s north, where most of the country’s Serb minority lives. NATO-led troops have controlled Kosovo’s borders since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic issued the warning Sunday after the passenger train, inscribed with “Kosovo is Serbian” in 20 languages and painted in the colors of the Serbian flag, was prevented from crossing into Kosovo, where his government contends ethnic Serbs are under threat from Kosovo Albanians.

“Yesterday, we were on the verge of clashes,” Nikolic said in the strongest rhetoric since the NATO-led troops took control of Kosovo’s borders in 1999.

Serbia officially is seeking European Union membership, but has lately been sliding toward the Kremlin and its policies to increase its influence in the Balkans. Serbia has strained relations with most of its neighbors — something many analysts believe is a Russian influence.

Nikolic, who is staunchly pro-Russian, said the EU and the West have never been on Serbia’s side or come to its aid.

“Why were the so-called international community and the Albanians so upset about one train?” Nikolic asked. “Maybe because it had ‘Kosovo is Serbian’ written on it, and because it had pictures of our icons inside.”

“We are a country which has to protect its people and its territory,” he added.

Nikolic also urged that Serbia halt its EU membership negotiation in Brussels, including a key part that calls for normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

“My suggestion now is only to talk in Brussels when this train is allowed to pass. … If there is no freedom of movement, what kind of Western civilization are we talking about then?” he said.

Nikolic also slammed the outgoing Obama administration, and the U.S. support of Kosovo’s independence — comments that reflected the general presumption here that President-elect Donald Trump will be more favorable toward Russia and Serbia.

Referring to the naming of several locations in Kosovo after former President Bill Clinton, he said: “It seems to me that these are the last gasps of the outgoing American administration, whose representatives must earn the names of streets and squares they received for directly supporting, sponsoring the independence of Kosovo.”

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have soared following the recent detention in France of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, on an arrest warrant from Serbia.

Kosovo has called the warrant illegitimate and urged France to ignore it, while Serbia is urging Haradinaj’s quick extradition to face war crimes charges.

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Deep-lying tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have erupted in a furious row after a Serbian train, emblazoned with patriotic graffiti, was blocked from crossing the border.

Serbia accused its neighbour, which gained independence after a bloody war in 2008, of plotting to blow up the train track in a bid to stop the route and of wanting to “provoke a full-scale conflict”.

In a move that was itself condemned by Kosovo as an act of “provocation”, the train was decorated in Serbian flags and messages reading “Kosovo is Serbia” in 20 world languages. Images painted on the carriages depicted Serbian Orthodox religious icons from monasteries in Kosovo, and staff were dressed in Serbia’s national colours.

Serbia said it was merely “a mobile exhibition presenting our cultural heritage”.

The two states have been embroiled in ongoing tensions since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a violent struggle. Neither Serbia nor Russia recognises Kosovar independence. Nato troops control Kosovo’s border.

Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian Prime Minister, condemned the decision to block the train. He said he had ordered it to stop in the Serbian town of Raska, near the border, after allegedly hearing of Kovovan plans to arrest the driver and passengers.

Mr Vucic also claimed ethnic Albanians in Kosovo were planning to blow up the track. Kosovan police said they had checked the railway and found no explosives.

“This was an ambition to provoke a conflict, to start a wider conflict in this territory that we consider as ours,” Mr Vucic 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.”

“We sent a train, not a tank”, he added.

Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic said his country would defend “every inch of its territory” and accused Kosovan Albanians of provoking “war”.

“Yesterday we were on the verge of clashes”, he added.

Bitterness between Balkan neighbors flashed to the surface this weekend after a train was turned back from the Kosovo border. The train, which had been painted with Serbian national colors and the phrase “Kosovo is Serbia,” cut short its journey amid fears it was under threat of violence.

Kosovo had deployed its special forces to prevent the train from crossing its border, The Associated Press reports. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandr Vucic then ordered the train to stop in the Serbian town of Raska, says the BBC, alleging that those forces intended to destroy the track.

“Yesterday, we were on the verge of clashes,” Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said Sunday, according to The AP, accusing Kosovo of “wanting war.”

The tense exchange renews the animosity that has long simmered between the neighbors.