ICJ’s Opinion on Kosovo’s Independence – The Digest
If you have been following the Kosovo case and heard the opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) and still don’t know whether Kosovo is independent or dependent, don’t despair. Belgraded.com is here to explain everything in terms that are comprehensible to a mere mortal being other than a lawyer (if lawyers are human, that is).
The International Court of Justice
In order to fully comprehend this explanation you must know that the ICJ is a court that usually doesn’t get cases as big as this one. Their previous two decisions concerned 1) whaling in the Antarctic and 2) aerial herbicide spraying. I know you’re going to check that out on their website, so here’s the link. But that’s ok, because no court ever gets cases as big as this one. This time they had to state their opinion regarding the question whether a country is a country or not (other proper terms would include “not-country” or “country-ish”).
The question
To be perfectly precise, here’s what Serbia asked: “Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?”
The answer
The court answered, after four months of thinking thoroughly about this question, (but not more thoroughly than when they had to state their opinion on pulp mills on river Uruguay) and answered, in short: “The Court finds that the declaration of independence of Kosovo adopted on 17 February 2008 did not violate international law.”
For a court, you would assume they could be a bit more accurate. Then again – maybe not. And now that we think about it, that was not actually what we really wanted to ask. What we really wanted to ask was… Hello? But then it was too late, the line got dropped, we were out of quarters and the ICJ did not want to take a collect call. Actually, the only answer Serbian authorities would be pleased with was something to the line of “Kosovo Albanians suck, Serbs rock!” Alas, that didn’t happen. So we were stuck with this answer, which now begins to look more and more like that answer to life, the universe and everything.
What does it mean?
So the declaration of independence of Kosovo does not violate international law. Does this mean everyone can declare independence? Short answer would be – yes. Now, I don’t know why, but it’s been more than 24 hours since the verdict was given and there are still no new countries popping up. But we are patient, sooner or later someone’s gotta go and say: let’s proclaim independence! I’ll let you know as soon as it happens. I think my neighbor from the second floor is now planning to secede from Serbia and proclaim the independence of his sovereign two-room apartment, but I’m not sure if he’s serious.
Reactions in Serbia
We did not take this answer very well, because the court didn’t say “Serbs rock!” as we expected, but quite the opposite. Serbian rulers decided that the best strategy would now be to quietly make the people forget what happened and wait for the next opportunity to prove we rock. That would be in September, during the UN General Assembly in New York.
Reactions in Kosovo
Hooray!
What are your reactions, btw?
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As you hinted, Serbia only expected one answer. The hypocritical thing is, if ICJ had rule din Serbia’s favour, it would have embraced the ruling, and used it to the maximum. Now that it did not work out, politicians are saying they won’t accept it. This was an important ruling and the conclusions should be accepted.
I travel in the Balkans a lot, to Serbia Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro etc – and what I see is that Kosovo is way beyond any kind of compromise. On the ground, it’s already a country. I think Serbia has made their point, and has in effect lost control over Kosovo long ago when it elected Milosevic to do his thing. Serbia would be best off accepting the ruling, working together with Kosovo in the interest of all Serbians and Albanians living there. Any more resistance is likely to damage Serbia more, and that would be disastrous for all Serbians.
My own country, the Netherlands, did a similar thing twice. In 1830 it took a nasty 9-year war before ‘we’ accepted the independence of Belgium. And after WW2, the Dutch shamefully fought an extremely bloody war in Indonesia to prevent their independence – using all the techniques like massacres and executions that had just a few years earlier been used by the Germans on Holland – to our indignation. The US forced us to let go of Indonesia, and that was a good thing.
The fact is the court dodged the real question. They effectively said there is nothing in international law to prevent someone declaring they are independent. It did not, however rule on the legality or not of that claim. In essence they said, go ahead and declare what you will, whether you are legally independent or not is another matter.
They didn’t really dodge the question all that much. The question was formulated in such a way to avoid the possibility of the court proclaiming Kosovo a unique case, and the court didn’t say anything to that extent.
I guess Serbia expected the court to say that it is not in accordance with international law for anyone to proclaim independence. But it turns out it is.
Jeff, I don’t want to be argumentative here, but while you may (or may not, don’t know enough) be able to make an apt comparison between Serbia/Kosovo and Netherlands/Belgium, I’m sure you understand that throwing Indonesia into the fray is disingenuous. RETURNING the right of a people to govern over their own land, people, and (at least in theory) their resources, after 4 centuries plus of incredibly, inhumanly violent colonization that ultimately, ON WHAT PLANET COULD ANY OF THAT EVER HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED ANYWHERE NEAR LEGAL??, has nothing at all to do with the case at hand.
I like creating cross cultural bond as much as the next guy, but really, comparing colonization, or more specifically, the anti-colonial movements of the last century with the politics of secession is even less logical than comparing apples and oranges. It’s like comparing apples and soccer balls, just cause they’re both round.
The point is that my country faced a similarly problematic and humiliating situation twice in history – and had to put up with it. And in the end it was for the best.
Here, Serbia went to the highest court and lost. Time to take the consequences of this failure and start being rational and constructive, in the interest of everyone in the region and of Serbia’s own dignity. Kosovo is de facto an independent – and I cannot think of anything that Serbia would gain by negotiations for a ‘compromise’. I can’t see any way in which the area would just become an autonomous part of Serbia. Any practical suggestions? Let them keep their new flag and currency, like Hong Kong?
[...] commentary on the ICJ's opinion on Kosovo's independence – at A Fistful of Euros, Belgraded, Gray Falcon, and Jamestown Foundation Blog (a GV translation on the subject is [...]
[...] de Justiça (ICJ-CIJ) na questão da independência cdo Kosovo – nos blogs A Fistful of Euros, Belgraded, Gray Falcon, e Jamestown Foundation Blog (uma tradução do GV sobre o assunto está [...]
Useful link – see other Serbian bloggers’ reaction on Global voices.
Jeff, I’m going to wind a bit in making my point, but bare with me. I’ll end in Kosovo…
‘Problematic and humiliating’ as your country’s ‘situation’ with Indonesia may have been, it is not only NOT similar to Serbia’s situation with Kosovo, the two have absolutely nothing to do with one another. So if your argument is, ‘We had to PUT UP WITH losing Indonesia, so why can’t you accept losing Kosovo”... I am saying the basis on which you are giving (paternalistic? patronizing?) advice on how to move forward is flawed. The Netherlands stole Indonesia and usurped its resources. Kosovo historically belonged to Serbia. Very different things. Even in your, I’m sure, good natured, attempt to play global counselor, you have to admit they are very different things. I won’t even dig too deeply into your penchant for understatements… Colonialism’s end was ‘humiliating and ‘problematic’? Really? For whom? THE DUTCH? SMH.
Furthermore, European colonial powers did not ‘put up with’ losing their colonies because they saw the benefit. Most (from Napoleon to Felipe), could not financially or militarily sustain resistance efforts. And the idea that colonies were ever really given up or ‘set free’ is debatable. Most ended up indebted to Europe through complicated neocolonial webs of development deals, political observances, and incredibly shady IMF loans. Britain maintains the power of the sterling with its ‘Commonwealth’, and France still actually freaking has colonies. Meanwhile, these same countries will be the first to counsel Serbia on ‘letting go’ and practical suggestions for ‘putting up with’ losing in the ‘highest court’, land which (correct me if I’m wrong) was Serbian in the first place. Gimme a break!
Lastly, the implications of this decision are wider. Viktor was sarcastic about the idea that other autonomous regions, by this Kosovo precedent, would start to eye independence as well…. AT least in Spain (where I live) this is no laughing matter. Independence is talked about DAILY in Cataluña. For this reason, Spain also does not recognize Kosovo. And with 1 million (!!) marching in the streets for greater autonomy in Cataluña on the very weekend that Spain faced the Netherlands in the World Cup, as well as today’s very anti-Spanish vote to ban bullfighting here, it is only a matter of time before the ICJ is faced with another secession ruling. QUOTE ME.
In light of this (as well as other arguments, one best laid out in the Global Voices link Viktor’s provided wherein one blogger thinks the decision is, in effect, a non-decision), a little reflection, a little, ‘WTF?’, a period of wondering IF they should accept this or not, I think, is okay.
[...] So now all that remains of the resolution is basically a statement that the dialog between Serbia and Kosovo must continue and that we accept the opinion of the ICJ on Kosovo’s secession. [...]
Dear Ieishah ,are you sure that :”Kosovo historically belonged to Serbia”?
I am sorry but I just can`t stand comments like that…
Have You or anyone who “knows” the history as good as you ever thought what is going on down there , WHY all those powerfull – democratic countries support so strongly the indepedence of Kosovo,what do they KNOW that we don`t!
Well , If you only new both sides it would be so easy to tell that they have nothing in common and that they don`t belong together.
Again ,please don`t get me wrong as its not your fault that history is leaning in one side as the other side was always covered and sealed with TRUTHPROOF.
@mush
Kosovo does have historical ties with Serbia, this is where serbs first settled in the Balkans, and the claim is backed up with historical Serbian monasteries. I’m not saying that Serbs had made a 100% clean majority but before WW2 Serbs had always been the Majority of ethnic groups in Kosovo. Most Albanians moved in during WW2 and Tito’s time, Albanians being much newer to the land in fact most of them coming as just mercenaries during the ottoman invasion has an extremely lower right to claim Kosovo as their’s. The Democratic countries that you mention, what is Democracy? Democracy is just the idea that multiple people have power rather then just a select few. But why does democracy automatically equal righteousness, what makes these countries supporting the Albanians so great as you passively imply, what proof do you have. Yugoslav troops was only sent to cull the rising Albanian nationalism where Serbs and other ethnic groups were being targeted by the KLA just for there nationality. France has just destroyed Roma settlements going to the thousands and has cleansed and forced them to travel to Eastern Europe. The U.S has caused conflict in Iraq by Sunni and Shi’a Muslims which was not present before, and has destroyed the life of god knows how many Afghans. Other E.U countries also performing similar acts including Italy forcing 900 North Africans out of their country and forcing them to run back to their previous nations. I’m not saying that Serbia is a saint however other European countries certainly are not. In fact while Serbia was fighting for independence, the U.K, France, the U.S, the Netherlands and other NATO countries were out colonizing the world shaping into the mess it is today, So just ask yourself what motives do they have for the balkans.
To Jeff and mush, and please bear in mind that I am an Ozzie, who was in the “peacemaking” forces on Kosovo for over a year. The fact is that there are NO historical remnants of albanians whatsoever on the territory of Kosovo and Metohia. Absolutely none are older than 70 years. Not saying there were no Albanians there, before, but these were sporadic temporary passers by. And if you read the historical papers, partricularly those left by the Otomans, you will discover that throughout the centuries, the Otomans were bringing the Albanians to Kosovo to work in the mines and on the land because Alnbanians were easy to muslimanise, while Serbs stuck to their religion and did not want to work for the invaders. So, the albanians were imported in from the neighboring land. Despite the continuous efforts by the Otomans, albanians did not stay there fro long becaue the Serbs were holding on to their land hard and it was difficult for Turks to give the land to settlers, so they would going back after working in the mines for a while.
I had a chance to see those turkish documents in the museums and libraries in Pristina only thanks to my position with the NATO peacekeeping force. And let me tell yo also that teh US had no intention to keep the peace. Just mine the copper, gold and silver, and some nickel. They are still doing that. Last I heard of, the mines were still off limits to albanians.
On the other hand, the historical evidence of Serbs goes back to the days when Slavs came down to the south of Europe. Hope you can see the hint in the evidence clearly visible in churches and buildings scattered around Kosovo. These are in quite poor state courtesy of Albanians who had tried to destroy any evidence of the fact that the Serbs have almost 2000 thousands of year of history, while they cannot even prove one year.
Then, there is that old turkish book where the Turks clearly state that albanians are NOT native people, that they were brought to Greece from Sicily to defend Constantinopolis against the invasion from Visigots (if I recall well…) but albanians ran away and hid in the mountains of what is today called albania. See albanians are people from that roman province called albania, which was historically betwen the Black see and Caucasus. They were brought to Sicily as Slaves, to mind the cattle and work for Romans.
There are clear and abundant written testimonies of their presence on Sicily. But, when they were taken to Greece to defend the northern frontier, they simply ran away and hid among the local Illyrians, took up their language and customs and blended in. After a while, they simply took over, and gave their name to the Illyrian land. Brazenly, they named it albania. That explains why they speak the language we can find traces of all the way back into the time of old Greece. It is Illyrian language. But they are NOT Illyrians. They are those Central Asian cattle minders who came to Balkans as slaves in 13th century. So, in all honesty, and democratic justice we all so whoringly swear by and never uphold, albanians have no right even to albania, let alone to Kosovo. And if we persist, then Serbs also have the right to secession and they should split from Kosovo if they feel like, from Bosnia, and from Croatia. ANd while we are at that, why not ask Basks to split from Spain, and let the Catalonians follow, and then finally free the Northern Ireland where Brits have no business anyway. Let us then go to Checnia, Gorsko-Karabach, and hey, let us also scew China. by giving the same right to their muslims who would then cut China in half and Tibetans would finish it off. ANd we would end up with two greater Chinas. Eastern and Western China. ANd while I am democratically proclaiming everyone free, how about returning the land to Australian Aborigines, now that would be fun! And New Zealand Maoris too. The good thing would be that then, North American Indians would have te right to claim their lands (which would effectively reduce the white european descendants to small patches of deserts scattered around the southern parts of the now defunct US, and frozen northern parts of Canada, just as defunct. And let finally Italians and French in Switzerland go home to their real homelands. I’m sure Germans would love to annex what’s left of it anyway. Austria would finally claim back parts of Northern Italy it never had any rights on except for the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of Austrians living there.
And if I have forgotten anyone ( I didn’t. There is not enough space for all separatists here, sorry Tamils of Sri Lanak, muslims of Philipines, etc.) pleas eforgive me and just grab the guns to assert your rights. If albanians can when they have no rights and no claims on Kosovo, then we all can.
Mush, I was born, raised , and pledge allegiance to one of those ‘powerful countries’—the USA. I am sure of this: our intentions in international intervention are often NOT very honorable. The US couldn’t care less who was in Kosovo first. Most Americans have no clue where Kosovo even is (I don’t, for the record, think Americans are stupid en masse. We’re more inventive & creative than most. But we’re sheltered.) Our decision to intervene and support Kosovo’s independence, was strategically and economically motivated. Trust.
You’re right to say that all the information I get is one-sided. So, yes, all of it (most recently a book called ‘The Serbs’ written by a Brit whose name I forget) reaffirms the idea that Serbs were in Kosovo well before Albanians. I assume you’re Albanian? If so, here’s your chance: tell us your side. I’m listening (no sarcasm).
What drives me crazy is paternalistic attitudes of people from ‘powerful’ COLONIAL countries. Their motives are not clean. But if you’ve got a helpful perspective I’m missing, I’d love to hear it.
cool.. yes….!!!
Yes thanks