Belgrade–Mitrovica train incident
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Belgrade–Mitrovica train incident happened on 14 January 2017, when a provocative Serbian train was prevented from entering Kosovo.
Background
Several days before the incident, the Serbian media was reporting about a decorated ŽS 711 train. They claimed that it was supposed to re-establish the connection between Serbia and Kosovo, after almost two decades of inactivity. The train had a livery painted in the colours of the Serbian flag and the inscription "Kosovo is Serbia" written in 21 different languages, including Albanian. The train interior was decorated with frescoes from monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, located in Kosovo. The author of the train livery, graphic designer Andrej Vasiljević, stated that by designing such a train, he wants to "show the world Serbian cultural heritage using artistic expression, and make clear to everyone to whom Kosovo belongs". He also said that his initiative was supported by the Serbian Government and Serbian national passenger railway company Srbija Voz.
On 14 January, Kosovo's president, Hashim Thaçi, published a Facebook post in which he stated that the aforementioned train had to be prevented from entering Kosovo, due to its "nationalist stickers", which are not in accordance with Kosovo's laws and constitution. Thaçi later ordered his Minister of Interior and Supreme Director of Police to prevent the train's arrival in Kosovo at all costs, after the Government of Kosovo consulted the European Union (EU) which responded that this "wasn't their concern".
Incident and the immediate aftermath
The train departed from Belgrade at 4 am on 14 January 2017, and was supposed to reach Mitrovica, Kosovo, after more than 19 hours of travel.
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