In October 2009, the United Nations approved Serbia's request to ask the ICJ whether Kosovo's secession is legal. The ruling is likely to take a long time, but hearings have started and the two contending parts will put forth their claims today.
If the ICJ ruled against the legality of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, this would give a serious blow to its hopes of reaching statehood and would arrest the tide of formal recognitions by the international community.
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told Reuters that Serbians hoped that the final ruling "is going to say that you cannot declare secession from an internationally recognised state in peacetime".
Kosovarian Deputy Prime Minister Rame Manaj responded by claiming that "we can live together with Serbia only as two independent countries. Serbia deported half of the population out of Kosovo, has killed and massacred more than 12,000 people [...] and because of all of these we declared independence".
Kosovo's statehood has been accepted by 22 EU member states. Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain all stand against the declaration of independence, fearful that this would set a dangerous precedent with respect to their own minorities.
Moreover, all four BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are opposed to Kosovo's independent status, sharing the same concerns as the five EU countries.
Kosovo is already a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, but the final sanctioning of its independence would be its acceptance as a member of the UN General Assembly. In order to get there, many more endorsements are needed.
A positive judgment by the ICJ would certainly ease Kosovo's path to full independence. A negative ruling would force it back to the negotiating table with Serbia or grant it the status of a 'new Taiwan'.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
