Northern Kosovo Serbs go ahead with referendum on Pristina

Hard-line ethnic Albanian protesters of the nationalist Self-Determination Movement protest near Podujevo, a town in northern Kosovo on January 22, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/226503.html

Serbs in northern Kosovo are going ahead with a referendum this week, in which citizens voice their opinion as to whether they accept the institutions of the so-called Republic of Kosovo.

On Monday, Serb leaders in northern Kosovo said they will hold the referendum despite opposition from Pristina, the international community and even Belgrade.

“The referendum will be held Tuesday and Wednesday. ... We printed 35,000 ballots," a member of the electoral commission that is organising the vote, Ljubomir Radovic said.

Residents of the Serb-dominated north oppose Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and believe the referendum will underscore their opposition to concessions that Belgrade has made to the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina during EU-brokered talks.

Voters will be asked whether they “accept the institutions of the so-called Republic of Kosovo seated in Pristina”.

However, the Serbian government does not support the move, even though Belgrade also opposes Kosovo independence. Serbian officials fear the referendum may damage Serbia’s European Union membership bid.

“The referendum ... cannot help solve the crisis," Serbian President Boris Tadic said.

The Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence, recognized by Western powers, and regard the region as a part of greater Serbia.

The European Union (EU) leaders have delayed Serbia's bid to become a formal candidate for membership in the EU until March 2012, at the earliest. The decision was made due to Serbia's fraught relations with Kosovo.

'Kosovo did not violate intl. law'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=135838&sectionid=351020606


The International Court of Justice (ICJ), UN's highest court, has ruled that the Kosovo independence from Serbia did not violate international law.

"The declaration of February 17, 2008 did not violate general international law," AFP quoted ICJ president Hisashi Owada as saying on Thursday.

The ICJ nonbinding, advisory ruling further said that international law contains no "prohibition on declarations of independence," the Associated Press reports.

Analysts believe that the ruling can have significant implications for other separatist regions around the globe.

Belgrade warned that conclusions should be drawn only after a "careful analysis" of the court's text.

Serbia had said earlier that it would not retreat from its stance on Kosovo, cautioning that if the ICJ supported Kosovo, all the world's borders would be at risk.

"Serbia will not change its position regarding Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and necessity of a compromise," Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said earlier.

"Our fight for such a solution will probably be long and difficult, but we will not give up," he added.

Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia sparked a serious worldwide debate following a 1998-99 war and nearly a decade of international administration.

Following a request by Serbia, the UN General assembly asked the ICJ in October 2008 to rule whether the breakaway breached international law.

Sixty nine countries, including the United States and most European Union nations, recognized Kosovo's statehood, while Serbia and Russia and some other countries condemned it.