Pantic: North Kosovo officials might turn to ICJ
Krstimir Pantic, deputy head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo, has said the local officials from northern Kosovo might turn to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague if pressures on the Serbian government and the Serbs in Kosovo continue.
(kosovocompromisestuff) Monday, April 01, 2013
If the pressures continue, things could go in a direction which will not benefit anyone - the Serbian government or the international community, Pantic told Jagodina-based Palma Plus television on Saturday night.
Four municipalities - northern Kosovska Mitrovca, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic - could establish an assembly of northern Kosovo, which would be open to other municipalities that want to join, Pantic explained.
"After the assembly of northern Kosovo is established, the representatives from the four municipalities would most likely turn to the ICJ with the same question as in the case of the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence by the Albanians, which is - does an informal group of people have the right to establish its own assembly and declare autonomy in one part of the territory," he said.
I do not see how the ICJ could offer a different opinion than the one it gave concerning Pristina, concluded Pantic.
In an effort to prevent illegal secession by the Albanians in the southern Serbian province, Serbia asked the UN court in The Hague: "Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?"
According to an advisory opinion issued by the court in July 2010, Kosovo's declaration of independence is not a violation of international law because international law contains no "prohibition on declarations of independence."
Without going into whether such declarations later lead to independence, the court said it did not rule on the right to self-determination, and turned future decisions about the Kosovo issue over to the UN General Assembly.
The opinion was written by 15 judges, nine of whom came from countries which have recognize Kosovo's independence.
Four municipalities - northern Kosovska Mitrovca, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic - could establish an assembly of northern Kosovo, which would be open to other municipalities that want to join, Pantic explained.
"After the assembly of northern Kosovo is established, the representatives from the four municipalities would most likely turn to the ICJ with the same question as in the case of the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence by the Albanians, which is - does an informal group of people have the right to establish its own assembly and declare autonomy in one part of the territory," he said.
I do not see how the ICJ could offer a different opinion than the one it gave concerning Pristina, concluded Pantic.
In an effort to prevent illegal secession by the Albanians in the southern Serbian province, Serbia asked the UN court in The Hague: "Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?"
According to an advisory opinion issued by the court in July 2010, Kosovo's declaration of independence is not a violation of international law because international law contains no "prohibition on declarations of independence."
Without going into whether such declarations later lead to independence, the court said it did not rule on the right to self-determination, and turned future decisions about the Kosovo issue over to the UN General Assembly.
The opinion was written by 15 judges, nine of whom came from countries which have recognize Kosovo's independence.
