"The government in Kosovo said it saw the inscription on the train as a provocation and a message of occupation, while the Serbian side insisted that it merely denotes a celebration of Serbia's cultural heritage, which stretches back hundreds of years.But tensions rose during the incident, prompting Nikolic to put things bluntly - that the two had briefly been on the precipice of war, and that the Serbian move to call back its train was quite measured, but will not be next time if Albanians threaten Serbian lives.Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said earlier that he had contacted the US and EU to voice his concerns. Serbia said the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" in many languages was a celebration of its cultural heritage, as were the Serbian Orthodox religious symbols adorning the inside, and the liberal use of the Serbian national colours. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia does not recognize the split and has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo's north, where most of the country's Serb minority is located. "CHAIN REACTION"

Serbia lost control of Kosovo when NATO air strikes forced Belgrade to withdraw its troops in 1999 after they had killed 10,000 ethnic Albanian civilians. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has accused Kosovo of provoking "war" after a Serbian train, adorned with signs declaring that "Kosovo Is Serbian," was halted before it entered Kosovo. Responding to Nikolic's remarks, Thaci said any attempt by Serbia to annex northern Kosovo would set off "a chain reaction across the whole Western Balkans".Belgrade and Pristina both aspire to join the European Union and normalising relations is a condition of their progress, but Serbia continues to block Kosovo's membership of international organisations such as the United Nations.Bilateral relations came under renewed strain this month when former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was arrested in France on a warrant from Serbia, which accuses him of war crimes.
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić accuses Kosovo of "seeking a war" after a train, en route to the Serb-majority city of Mitrovica in North Kosovo, and decorated in Serbian national colors and the words "Kosovo je Srbija" (Kosovo is Serbia), was prevented from crossing the Kosovan border. The Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa says the train had been stopped "to protect the country's sovereignty".