Vucic Blames Kosovo, EU for Spike in Tensions

Serbian premier Aleksandar Vucic on Friday blamed Kosovo's leaders for the sharp rise in tensions between Pristina and Belgrade and for the apparent failure of talks in Brussels this week aimed at calming the situation.

"They don't want any agreement," Vucic said of Kosovo's leaders.

Speaking at a press conference in Belgrade, he also accused the EU of lacking the courage to say who was undermining the Kosovo-Serbia agreements.

"Who first came out with statements - [Kosovo President Hashim] Thaci and [Prime Minister Isa] Mustafa, or Vucic? So, why didn't you say so? You don't have the courage to say who violated [the agreements]," Vucic said as he castigated EU officials for their alleged timidity.

He said that he had urged Serbs in Kosovo to do their best to remain calm.

"I saw fear among the Serbs of the south [of Kosovo] and rage among Serbs from the north, but I called on them to relax," Vucic said.

"If they [the Kosovo Albanians] come to destroy, let them destroy, we have the brains and capacity to rebuild from scratch; we must not start conflicts. One month of conflict sets us back ten years," he added.

After a month of mounting tensions, relations between Belgrade and Pristina were dragged backwards even further on January 14 when Serbia sent a train painted in the colours of the Serbian flag and bearing the words "Kosovo is Serbian" in 21 languages from Belgrade to the northern, Serb-run part of the town of Mitrovica.

The Serbian authorities stopped the train in Raska, just before the Kosovo border, after which Vucic dramatically accused the Kosovo government of trying to blow up the railway line. Kosovo dismissed the claim.

An EU-led meeting on Wednesday between senior Serbian and Kosovo officials...