Russia Bristles at Ruling on Kosovo
Quite predictably, Russia was not happy about Thursday’s ICJ ruling that Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence is legal. Reuters reports:
“Our position on the non-recognition of Kosovo’s independence remains unchanged,” the [Russian] Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“It is essential to note that the court gave an assessment of only the actual declaration, and specifically said it was not addressing the broader question of the right of Kosovo to secede from Serbia unilaterally,” the statement said.
“In its conclusions the court did not express an opinion on the consequences of this declaration, in particular, on whether Kosovo is a state or on the legality of the recognition of the this region by a number of countries”…
… “The legal debates about Kosovo’s independence will continue,” Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said in an interview broadcast on the Rossiya-24 news channel.
“We will not accept the splitting of a country that is a member of the United Nations. On principle we consider Serbia a unified whole,” he said.
