Mitrovica

The recent rise in anti-EU rhetoric among Serbian officials, according to Maja Bobic from the European Movement in Serbia, is affecting people's understanding of the benefits of EU integration.

The successful resolution of all issues related to the reopening of the Mitrovica Bridge between Serbia and Kosovo is a crucial step forward in Belgrade-Pristina negotiations on regional cooperation, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Sunday.

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.

Albania's Prime Minister used an official visit to Kosovo on Thursday to stress the deep solidarity between the two countries at a time of serious tension between Kosovo and Serbia and following tough talks in Brussels between the two sides.

Haxhi Shala, head of the Kosovo parliamentary committee in charge of overseeing the Kosovo intelligence agency, has said President Hashim Thaci or Prime Minister Isa Mustafa have a duty to explain the sudden resignation of Agron Selimaj, who headed the agency since 2015.

Kosovo government officials have yet to explain what they plan to do with the two-metre-high wall that Kosovo Serbs have erected on the northern side of the Ibar river in the divided northern town of Mitrovica.

A resolution issued by the Kosovo parliament on December 23 ordered "the demolition of the illegal wall in the northern part of Mitrovica to happen within January 2017".

The Presidents and Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo are due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday at the highest-level meeting since EU-led talks on "normalizing" relations between Serbia and its former province started in 2011.

The talks will unite Prime Ministers Isa Mustafa of Kosovo and Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Presidents Hashim Thaci and Tomislav Nikolic.

Serbian rail passengers were stunned to see the train, painted in the Serbian flag and bearing the words "Kosovo is Serbian", arrive at their station for its first regular run from Kraljevo, the daily Blic reported on Friday.

Following the sharp rise in tensions between Kosovo and Serbia over the train sent to the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica, Dragan Sutanovac, leader of Serbia's opposition Democratic Party, accused Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic of making "warmongering statements" that are "fuelling further conflicts" and bringing Kosovo's small Serb minority into danger.

Following an emergency session of Serbia's Council for National Security, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic on Saturday accused Kosovo of sending special forces to attack the first train in 18 years from Belgrade to the northern, Serb-run part of the Kosovo town of Mitrovica.