Serbian Railways ‘Threaten Kosovo Sovereignty’

The operation of a train service from Serbia proper into Kosovo’s Serb-dominated north is another act of interference by Belgrade in Kosovo’s sovereignty, Kosovo’s Transport Minister says. Fatmir Limaj said that such actions damage interests of Serb citizens and pledged that the Ministry of Interior will work with the European Union’s law-and-order mission, EULEX, in dealing with the issue.

“We stick to the point that this is a breach of Kosovo’s sovereignty. We have asked to stop trains and other transport which come without the prior permission of Pristina,” Limaj told Prague-based Radio Free Europe.

On Sunday, a train crossed from Serbia and terminated in the north Kosovo north of Zvecan, some 38 kilometres inside Kosovo’s territory.

Serbian media reported that Serbian Railways has taken control of the railways in Kosovo’s north, suggesting that in this way that “it didn’t forget the Serb and other communities living in Kosovo.”

This move was also condemned from Kosovo’s opposition parties as another bid by Serbia to breach Kosovo’s sovereignty.

“This is interference in Kosovo’s sovereignty. This is an attack on Kosovo as a state,” said Lulzim Zeneli, the head of parliamentary group of the Democratic League of Dardania.

In the weeks after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17, Serbia claimed to have seized a key railway line in Kosovo after ethnic Serb railway workers refused to take orders from Pristina authorities.

Source: Balkan Insight

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Posted by editor on Dec 17 2008. Filed under Kosovo, Region. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry