NETHERLANDS: International court to rule on Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia

Record ID: 805266

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: International court to rule on Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia
  • Date: 23rd July 2010
  • Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (JULY 22, 2010) (REUTERS) INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE BUILDING VARIOUS OF MAN WATERING FLOWERS IN FRONT OF THE COURTHOUSE ENTRANCE TO COURTHOUSE U.N. FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) BIBI VAN GINKEL, ANALYST AT CLINGENDAEL INSTITUTE, SAYING: "It will be an important trial and an important advisory opinion. The whole international community will look upon the results, it will have an impact maybe on Kosovo itself but maybe also for other international communities who have maybe separatist motivations, etc." TOWER OF THE COURTHOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BIBI VAN GINKEL, ANALYST AT CLINGENDAEL INSTITUTE, SAYING: "It could still be that it has only a very high theoretical impact and that all kinds of international lawyers will dive into and researchers will look into the criteria that a court might formulate but if they are going to understand the question very elaborately, then maybe it can also have an impact on the future of Kosovo but my gut feeling will be that they're going to be very modest in that respect." WOMAN WALKING IN THE GRAND HALL OF THE COURTHOUSE GRAND HALL STAIRCASE VARIOUS OF STAINED GLASS WINDOWS IN THE COURTROOM EMPTY JUDGES' CHAIRS COURTROOM VARIOUS OF PERSON RESERVING THE CHAIRS IN THE FRONT ROW PAINTING ON THE WALL EMPTY COURTROOM
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABPP5AT5ECF0DKD2HGK6UUQQGA
  • Story Text: The World Court is to rule on Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia on Thursday (July 22) in a case that could have implications for separatist movements around the globe, as well as Belgrade's stalled EU membership talks.
    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is to issue a non-binding ruling on Serbia's 2009 claim that Kosovo's declaration of independence secession was a "flagrant violation" of its territorial integrity.
    Serbian President Boris Tadic was quoted by the Tanjug news agency as saying that "if the ICJ opinion establishes a new principle, an entire process of creating new states would open throughout the world, something that would destabilise many regions of the world."
    The United States and most other Western states recognised Kosovo's February 2008 declaration of independence but Serbia rejected it, as did its ally Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
    On Wednesday (July 21), the White House said U.S. Vice President Joe Biden reaffirmed U.S. backing for Kosovo's independence at a meeting with visiting Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.
    Serbia lost control over Kosovo in 1999 when a 78-day NATO bombing campaign ended a two-year war between Serbia and ethnic Kosovo Albanians, and put in place a U.N. administration and a NATO-monitored ceasefire.
    Since then some two million Albanians and 120,000 Serbs have lived separately in Kosovo, mutually suspicious and occasionally hostile to each other.
    Bibi van Ginkel, an analyst at the Clingendael Institute, said it is an important trial.
    "The whole international community will look upon the results, it will have an impact maybe on Kosovo itself but maybe also for other international communities who have maybe separatist motivations," she said.
    Belgrade has refused to recognise Kosovo's independence move and the dispute has held up its EU membership talks -- and hindered its ability to attract foreign investment.
    EU ministers did not debate Serbia's candidacy in June, waiting instead to see progress in relations with Kosovo, a source close to Brussels has said. The EU has told some of its diplomats to delay summer vacation plans to begin lobbying Serbia and Kosovo immediately after the ICJ ruling.
    If the court sides with Serbia, Kosovo could be pushed into negotiating a settlement with the Belgrade authorities while a ruling in its favour could lead more countries to recognise its independence.
    Kosovo hopes the court will accept that it is well along the path toward statehood, recognised by 69 nations and already functioning as an independent republic with a constitution and elections.
    Georgia filed a lawsuit in 2008 against Russia at the same court, saying that Russia's incursion into its South Ossetia province amounted to ethnic cleansing.
    Russia, which took two decades to crush a separatist rebellion in its Chechnya province, has recognised both rebel Georgian regions as independent states but few others have followed its lead.
    Spain, which has its own regions seeking greater autonomy, has already said it will not recognise an independent Kosovo.
    At the start of deliberations last December, judges at the ICJ -- the United Nations' highest judicial body -- heard statements from 29 other nations, including Spain, the United States and Russia.
    Although non-binding, the court's ruling will provide a framework for diplomats to try and establish a working relationship between Serbia and Kosovo, said Bibi van Ginkel, added.
    "It could still be that it has only a very high theoretical impact and that all kinds of international lawyers will dive into and researchers will look into the criteria that a court might formulate but if they are going to understand the question very elaborately, then maybe it can also have an impact on the future of Kosovo but my gut feeling will be that they're going to be very modest in that respect."
    Adding to the nervousness, the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal on Wednesday overturned the 2008 acquittal and ordered a retrial of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj on charges of orchestrating torture, murder, rape and deportation during the war.
    NATO forces in Kosovo are on heightened alert but the commander of the 10,000 troops there said there was no sign of trouble brewing.
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