Kosovo considers Serbia's effort to launch a rail link between the two countries as a provocation and an aggressive violation of its sovereignty.

The Serbian government announced Friday it will launch a railway link between Belgrade and northern Mitrovica in Kosovo, where most of the country's ethnic Serb minority is located.

Kosovo State Minister Edita Tahiri called on the European Union and the international community to stop Serbia, which, she said, "is turning into a threat to peace and stability in the region."

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia has not recognized it.

Despite EU-brokered talks to normalize their relations, the two countries' ties have been strained following the detention in France of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, on an arrest warrant from Serbia.