Tirana hails the world court verdict on Kosovo and urges closer cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia for ‘practical issues” and in their “joint European prospect.”
TIRANA, July 22 – Official Tirana on Thursday hailed the United Nations’ highest court verdict that Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia did not break international law.
The nonbinding opinion, passed by a 10-4 majority of the court’s judges, set the stage for a renewed push by Kosovo for further international recognition of its independence.
A statement of the Foreign Ministry said that “Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta beleives that the Court’s opinion at the same time opens the way to speedin up of the recognition process of the indipendent and sovereign state of Kosovo toward full membership with all the rights into the United Nations in a near future.”
International Court of Justice President Hisashi Owada said international law contains no “prohibition on declarations of independence” and therefore Kosovo’s declaration “did not violate general international law.”
Kosovo sparked sharp debate worldwide when it seceded from Serbia in 2008, following a bloody 1998-99 war with Serbia and nearly a decade of international administration.
Kosovo’s statehood has been recognized by 69 countries, including the United States and most European Union nations. Serbia and Russia lead a handful of others in staunchly condemning it.
Albania has been lobbying hard urging world countries to recognize the new state also as a factor of stability in the Balkans, once considered as a powder keg.
Owada made the statement midway through his reading of the court’s lengthy opinion. The foreign ministers of Serbia and Kosovo were still listening to the reading in the wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice and were not immediately available for comment.
Tirana reinstated its unequivocal support to the independent state of Kosovo and its territorial integrity, also urging the consolidation of independence, building of the democratic institutions to fully serve its citizens.
Albania also urged Prishtina and Belgrade to “immediately start the dialogue Šon resolving practical issues, in the daily interest of their citizens and also their joint European prospects.”
The minister also reassured Kosovo of Tirana’s full commitment on further recognition in the international arena and its participation in the regional and international forums and institutions, and also on “deepening the overall cooperation between our two countries in the interest of long-term peace, security and stability in the region.”
