Serbia optimistic on eve of ICJ ruling on Kosovo's secession

Jul 21, 2010, 10:24 GMT

Belgrade - Serbian politicians were quietly optimistic Wednesday on the eve of a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the legality of Kosovo's 2008 unilateral declaration of independence.

Belgrade is hoping that the non-binding opinion of the United Nations court will favour its bid for new talks on the status of the former Serbian province.

Serbia, along with Russia, Spain and other countries refused to recognise the independence, whilst the US, Britain and most EU states did.

The ICJ is scheduled to announce its opinion on Thursday.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, which was founded in Kosovo in the 13th century, plans to sound bells and hold prayers for a favourable ruling.

Kosovo, with its majority ethnic Albanian population, declared independence in February 2008, two years after unsuccessful talks between the Serbian government and Kosovo Albanian leaders.

Kosovo's independence was quickly recognized by the United States and major European powers. However, Serbia - backed by its superpower ally Russia - managed to keep Kosovo out of the UN.

Officials in Belgrade have confirmed plans to use the ICJ ruling to launch debate in the UN General Assembly, with a view to adopting a resolution calling for new talks on the status of Kosovo.

Belgrade is to run a two-track effort once the ICJ states its opinion, which would include trying to prevent further recognition of Kosovo and pushing through the resolution, according to officials quoted in the report in Blic.

At the moment, 69 countries formally recognise Kosovo in the General Assembly, while 123 have not taken the step.

The daily Press warned Wednesday that Washington would step up pressure on at least 40 more countries to recognize Kosovo and make sure that Belgrade's initiative in the General Assembly fails.

That could tip the balance in the General Assembly against Serbia and in favour of Kosovo, according to the report.

The US, Germany, France and Britain have strongly discouraged Serbia from pushing for new talks on Kosovo, while Kosovo itself has scoffed at the initiative.