Tirana defends “Kosovo Independence”

THE HAGUE, Dec 7 – The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) was asked last year by the UN General Assembly to give its advisory opinion on the legality of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration of independence.
Countries on both sides of the dispute, and the Kosovo Albanian representatives, have a chance to present their arguments until December 11.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in February 2008. Some 63 countries have recognized the new state, including the United States and most of the European Union members.
Albania had its occasion to offer its opinion at the court why the independence of Kosovo was fair, legal and also serving the regional peace.
The delegations of Albania, Germany and Saudi Arabia supported before the ICJ the secession of Kosovo by claiming that the unilateral declaration of independence was not in contradiction with international law, but that it was rather in line with the right of people to self-determination.
Other countries were against it.
Kosovo has become an independent state because it has been recognized by 63 members of the United Nations, as well as by 109 members of the IMF and the World Bank (WB), said Wasum-Rainer of Germany.
Albania submitted the verbal arguments to the International Tribunal of Justice in the Hague on the legality of Kosovo’s Independence. Albania has been involved from the outset of this process with a renowned domestic and international team, led by the German lawyer, Professor Jochen Frowein.
The process started with the adoption on 8 October 2008 by the UN General Assembly of the Resolution 63/3 of a request filed by Serbia for an advisory opinion by the International Tribunal of Justice on the question: “Is the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the Interim Institutions of Kosovo’s self-Government in compliance with International Law?”
Albania and 36 states, including Kosovo submitted their written statements to the Tribunal. At the second stage, concluded on 17 July 2009, Albania and 14 states, including Kosovo handed over their comments over the positions dated 17 April.
Albania’s position is that Kosovo’s independence is fully legitimate and under international law.
Albania presented a considerable number of arguments to support that.
It said that the declaration of Independence was adopted by the legitimate democratically elected representatives, as an expression of the will of Kosovo people and not by the provisional Institutions of self Government of Kosovo.
Resolution 1244 by the UN Security Council has intentionally left open the mode of arranging the final Kosovo status.
The people of Kosovo have been recognized as such in some documents by several bodies, including herewith the UN; consequently, it enjoys the right for self – determination, under international law.
The Declaration of Independence does not exceed the competences of the democratically elected representatives of the Kosovo people and it does not constitute a violation to binding norms of international law.
With regard to the principle of non-infringement of the territorial integrity, based among others under the rights it has enjoyed as a constituent part of the former FRY, under the Constitution1974, Kosovo has exercised its own right for self – determination.
International law in itself does not regulate the procedure of endorsing an act for the proclamation of independence of a people, its form or legitimacy, except for failure of recognition in cases of external interventions by another state/or when such a proclamation runs contrary to binding norms of international law or when it comes through armed force. Kosovo case does not fall to any of the last two categories, since its independence is a legitimate expression of the will by its own people.
Albania demanded the Tribunal to state that the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo dated 17 February 2008 is in full compliance with international law.
The advisory opinion of the International Tribunal of Justice, which is not legally binding, will be rendered by the Tribunal in Spring 2010. Yet, whatever the advisory opinion would be, it will have no legal effect on the independence of Kosovo