Serbia launches provocative train service to Kosovo's Serbian north

There is no mistaking the Serbian nationalist message of the train, from the Orthodox icons adorning its interior to the bold claim plastered across its exterior in a host of languages: "Kosovo is Serbia".
On Saturday the train got its message moving, initiating the first rail service from Belgrade to the mostly ethnic Serbian north of Kosovo since the outset of the war 18 years ago that split the nations apart. Serbian authorities claim the renewed rail service answers a clear need, allowing the majority Serbian population in Kosovo's north "to have better communication with central Serbia", according to Marko Djuric, Serbian minister for Kosovo affairs.