Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic declined an invitation to attend Thursday's qualifier for the European soccer championships in Albania, saying he doesn't want heated fan rivalry to undermine progress made in relations between the two Balkan countries.
Thursday's match in Elbasan, central Albania, is being policed by more than 2,000 officers, with extensive road closures and security checks.
Vucic had been invited to the game by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is due to attend.
A match between the countries — who remain at odds over the status of now-independent Kosovo — was interrupted by violence in Belgrade last year after a drone carrying a nationalist Albanian banner hovered over the pitch.
On Wednesday, police arrested the alleged drone pilot on illegal weapons possession charges, along with three other men, while the bus carrying Serbia's squad was hit by stones in Tirana, causing no injuries.
"It's easy to raise tension and to take the easy route of animosity instead of a more rational view of the future," Vucic said Thursday.
Serbian fans will also avoid travelling to the match, except for a small group of students who met Rama.
In Elbasan, police held a riot drill in front of thousands of bemused fans, firing water cannon bursts as a helicopter buzzed over nearby apartment buildings.
Fans waited for several hours, most in heavy rain, to be individually searched about 100 metres from the stadium entrance, where police dumped lighters, phone chargers —which they believed could be used as weapons — and nationalist banners into the gutter, as they checked ticket names against passports and ID cards.
But supporters kept up the party atmosphere before the Group I game, and buildings were draped with national red and black colours.
With Serbia eliminated and their opponents still in the fight for qualification, Albania coach Gianni De Biasi said his players were focused on trying to win the game.
"These kind of games are the most straightforward. Everyone knows what they have to do," the Italian said. "We know who we're up against and we know how tough they can be ... It's a crucial game."
Albania is third in Group I with 11 points from six matches. Portugal leads with 15 points, followed by Denmark with 12, but having played an additional game.
Lufti Idliraku runs a small coffee shop opposite the 12,500-seat Elbasan Arena, and argued with customers over score predictions, danced to a passing street band and pulled a stuffed eagle, the national symbol, off his shelf.
"Personally, I think we'll win it 1-0. I'm sorry the fans aren't coming from Serbia," he said. "I hope sport can make us overcome history, and not remind us of it."
___
Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade contributed to this report.
___
Follow Gatopoulos at http://www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.