Kosovo: the UN court has spoken, let the dialogue begin

„1999, 2010: these dates mark history in the Balkans. Eleven years ago, NATO waged an air war against Serbia over the treatment of Serbia’s southernmost province. Since then, the longstanding dispute over the status of Kosovo has been conducted through diplomatic and legal wrangling instead. On July 22, the highest court in the UN system, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruled that Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008 did not violate international law.(...)

In truth, the ICJ’s ruling is less unambiguous than it seems, and not just because 4 of the 14 judges on the bench dissented. In examining the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the court was helped by Serbia’s narrow framing of the question, which enabled the judges to avoid the key issue of whether Kosovo actually had the right to secede.(...)

The story of the Balkans is a quintessentially European story about competing claims for identity, sovereignty, and independence on a continent profoundly marked by ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic, and political diversity and differences.(...)

Still, Belgrade and Pristina remain the two main players in these settlement negotiations. And the process of dialogue (firmly encouraged by the EU and the United States) will in itself be a factor for peace, security, and stability in the region. It buys time, and builds trust; both are sorely needed. The ruling of the ICJ has now handed the question of how to achieve a durable peace back to the actors. In essence, it is saying, time for jaw-jaw after law-law.”