Serbia stops train traveling to Kosovo for fear of interception: PM

The Serbian government on Saturday decided to stop a train from traveling to northern Kosovo for fear of being intercepted, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said.

"From a place called Luzane, a unit comprised solely of Albanians was sent with rifles towards Jarinje (an administrative crossing) where they were supposed to wait for the train, arrest the train driver and the passengers and thus provoke bigger conflicts," Vucic told reporters.

The train, carrying about 50 passengers, left Belgrade on Saturday morning. It halted at the Serbian town of Raska, which is very close to Kosovo.

On the outside, the train was painted in colors of the Serbian flag. Inside, it was decorated with motives from Serbian monasteries that are part of the UNESCO heritage.

The train would have been the first of such railway service from the Serbian capital to the northern Kosovo's town of Mitrovica.

According to Vucic, intelligence indicated that some people were trying to plant mines on a part of the railroad.

"My decision was to stop the train in (district of) Raska and show everyone that we want peace," he told a press conference.

"I talked with Mogherini and informed her about the situation," Vucic noted, referring to European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia rejects it and considers Kosovo its own province. Endit