International Court of Justice Rules Kosovo's Independence Legal

by Amy Judd | July 22, 2010 at 08:00 am

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Has Ruled That Kosovo's Declaration of Independence is Legal

The statement made by Hisashi Owada, who is the presiding judge in the Hague, read out the statement on Thursday afternoon, although it is not legally binding. The ICJ ruled that the country's declaration of independence did not violate international law, which could mean that other states wanting to break away could be spurred on by this decision.

Al Jazeera English reports that this ruling will hopefully lead more countries to recognize Kosovo's independence.

Kosovo's foreign minister said he expected Serbia to deal with the former province as a sovereign state, following the ruling.

"I expect Serbia to turn and come to us, to talk with us on so many issues of mutual interest, of mutual importance," Skender Hyseni told the Reuters news agency.

"But such talks can only take place as talks between sovereign states," he said.

The Serbian president, Boris Tadic, earlier stated:

"If the International Court of Justice sets a new principle, it would trigger a process that would create several new countries and destabilise numerous regions in the world,"

Police in Serbia were concerned about riots over the ruling.

The United States have announced that they plan to back Kosovo's independence, and vice-president Joe Biden said that the U.S. offers 'full support for an independent, democratic, whole and multi-ethnic Kosovo whose future lies firmly with European and Euro-Atlantic institutions'.

About 70 other countries have already recognized Kosovo as an independent state. Their government does not want to further negotiate with Belgrade, even though Serbia has said they will never recognize Kosovo as a sovereign country.

Kosovo declared itself independent in February 2008