Kosovo secession ruled legal by U.N.
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PRAGUE -- Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law, the United Nations' highest court said Thursday in a ruling that Kosovo heralded as a victory, but that legal experts warned could spur separatist movements around the world.
Legal experts said that while the International Court of Justice had ruled that Kosovo's declaration of independence was legal it had avoided saying the state of Kosovo was legal under international law -- a narrow and carefully calibrated compromise that they said could allow both sides to declare victory in a dispute that remains raw even 11 years after the war there.
Political analysts said the advisory opinion, passed in a 10-4 vote by the court judges, is likely to spur other countries to recognize Kosovo's independence. Of the 192 countries in the U.N. General Assembly, so far only 69, including the United States and a majority of European Union nations, have recognized Kosovo.
Reading the nonbinding opinion -- whose political consequences could reverberate far beyond Kosovo -- Hisashi Owada, president of the International Court of Justice, said international law contained no "prohibition on declarations of independence," and consequently that Kosovo's declaration "did not violate international law."
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership welcomed the court's decision. "This is a great day for Kosovo, and my message to the government of Serbia is, 'Come and talk to us,' " Kosovo Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni said after leaving the court, The Associated Press reported.
But Serbia was adamant that it would never recognize what it had previously called a false state, while Russia, one of its staunchest allies, insisted that the court's decision did not provide a legal basis for Kosovo's independence.
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said the ruling could make separatist movements elsewhere "tempted to write declarations of independence."
First Published July 23, 2010 12:00 am
