The World Court ruled yesterday that Kosovo’s declaration of independence did not violate international law.\u00a0 Yet, the courts stopped short of saying that Kosovo is, in fact, a legal state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Legal experts said that while the International Court of Justice had ruled that Kosovo\u2019s declaration of independence was legal, it had avoided saying that the state of Kosovo was legal under international law, a narrow and carefully calibrated compromise that they said could allow both sides to declare victory in a dispute that remains raw<\/a> even 11 years after the war there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The war has been over for 11 years and Kosovo has been independent for two, yet they are not legally a country.\u00a0 This does little to resolve the issues facing Kosovo in the international community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serbia was adamant that it would never recognize what it had previously called a false state, while Russia, one of its staunchest allies, insisted that the court\u2019s decision did not provide a legal basis for Kosovo\u2019s independence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
For our part, we are supportive of the emerging state and called on Europe to get on board.<\/p>\n
The State Department said the ruling was \u201ca judgment we support,\u201d according to The Associated Press. \u201cNow it is time for Europe to unite behind a common future.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, why did the court play it safe? Politics as usual.<\/p>\n
James Ker-Lindsay, a Balkan expert at the London School of Economics, said the court had trod carefully in weighing the right of a people to self-determination over the right of a sovereign state to territorial integrity, and had decided to sidestep the issue altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has essentially said that Kosovo\u2019s legitimacy will be conferred by the countries that recognize it rather than by the court,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In many ways, I think, that is the way it has always been.\u00a0 However, people have the right to self determination whether the court says so or not.\u00a0 So, it might as well say so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"