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US leads calls for nations to recognise Kosovo independence
The US on Thursday led calls for Serbia to accept the UN top court's support for Kosovo's 2008 independence declaration, but staunch Belgrade ally Russia rejected the ruling, saying it changed nothing.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged all nations including Serbia to recognise Kosovo after the International Court of Justice in The Hague backed its independence from Serbia.
"We call on all states to move beyond the issue of Kosovo's status and engage constructively in support of peace and stability in the Balkans, and we call on those states that have not yet done so to recognise Kosovo," she said.
The court gave its backing to the February 2008 declaration of independence, saying it conformed to international law, despite protests by Serbia that it would never recognise the move.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned against any "provocative" steps in the wake of the ruling.
"The Secretary General urges all sides to avoid any steps that could be seen as provocative and derail the dialogue," his spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press briefing.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton offered to broker dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, saying Brussels was "ready to facilitate a process of dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade" with the goal of opening up "progress on the path to Europe".
She insisted that "the future of Serbia lies in the European Union. The future of Kosovo also lies in the European Union."
Sixty-nine nations have recognised Kosovo including all but five of the 27 EU member states: Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain, which has deep concerns given breakaway tendencies in its wealthy Catalonia and the Basque Country.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the court had confirmed that the independence declaration was not in contravention of international law.
"I am pleased with it... The independence of Kosovo is irreversible," he said.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also backed the ruling, saying Kosovo's "independence and territorial integrity are irrefutable facts."
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha hailed a "historic decision".
But Russia, which has historic ties with Belgrade, rejected the ruling.
"Our position on the non-recognition of the independence of Kosovo remains unchanged. We believe the resolution of the problem of Kosovo is possible only through negotiations between the interested parties, on the basis of the provisions of Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council," the ministry said in a statement.
This resolution "remains the basis of judicial and international regulation recognised by all," it said.
A Spanish foreign ministry spokesperson said Madrid respected the court ruling but would not be drawn on whether it would lead Spain to reconsider its decision on non-recognition. Ethnically divided Cyprus too said it was studying the judgement.
Serbian President President Boris Tadic, however, said the nation would never accept Kosovo's independence.
"Serbia of course will never recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo because it believes that unilateral, ethnically-motivated secession is not in accordance with the principles of the United Nations."
Landlocked Kosovo with its two million inhabitants -- 90 percent of them ethnic Albanians of mainly Muslim belief -- unilaterally declared independence from predominantly Christian Orthodox Serbia just over two years ago after UN-brokered negotiations to resolve its future status failed.
