Serbian pro-Russian president slams outgoing US government

The Serbian president lashed out today at the outgoing US administration, expressing hope that President-elect Donald Trump will be more favourable towards Serbia and its Russia-backed claim over Kosovo.
Tomislav Nikolic said in a statement after meeting US Ambassador Kyle Scott that the past US policies "have created much trouble" in the Balkans, referring to American support for Kosovo's independence.
"I hope that with the new (US) administration, that kind of behaviour will stop," Nikolic said.
Serbia, backed by Russia, has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo's north, where most of the country's Serb minority lives. NATO-led troops have controlled Kosovo's territory since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.

Nikolic spoke after tensions soared over the weekend when a Serbian train, bearing signs reading "Kosovo is Serbia", decorated in the colours of the Serbian flag and Christian Orthodox symbols, was turned back from the border with Kosovo.
Nikolic has accused Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders of "wanting war" and warned that Serbia would defend "every inch" of its territory by sending its troops to the NATO-patrolled region. Kosovo leaders have branded the sending of the Serbian train as a provocation to destabilise Kosovo's statehood, proclaimed in 2008.

"For them, a train decorated in Serbian symbols is a provocation. And they went against it with bombs and long-barrel weapons," Nikolic said in the statement, referring to a special Kosovo police force that inspected the tracks after reports of planted explosives.

"Kosovo is a sovereign, independent country and we respect the right of Kosovo to manage who and what crosses its borders," the US Embassy in Kosovo said in a statement. "We are pleased that there were no confrontations at the border, but the increase of nationalism benefits no one."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sided with Serbia today in Moscow, saying "there should be no Albanian law enforcement agencies in northern Kosovo where ethnic Serbs live".
He accused the West of "imposing so-called European values in a new, modernised, post-Christian manner on all peoples in the Balkans".
Nikolic is known for his pro-Russian stands. His comments reflect the general presumption in Serbia that Trump will be more favourable towards the country.

Serbia officially is seeking EU membership, but has lately been sliding towards its traditional Slavic ally Russia. It has strained relations with most of its neighbours, something many analysts believe is the Kremlin's influence.