Hague Court to pronounce judgement on Kosovo issue today

The International Court of Justice in The Hague will pronounce a judgement today on legality of Kosovo independence proclaimed in 2008. Representatives of 40 countries will attend the court sitting but the resolution on legality of independence will depend on 15 countries’ judges, RBK reported.

Nine of the countries involved in the process have already recognized Kosovo independence, six rejected it. Thus, Kosovo independence was recognized by Japan, Sierra Leone, Jordan, United States, Germany, France, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Somali. Russia, Slovakia, China, Morocco, and Brazil rejected it.

The judgement has no compulsory legal force but it is supposed to be precedent for other states not recognized de jure.

Thus, according to The Guardian, if the court recognizes Kosovo independence as legal, Nagorno Karabakh, Northern Cyprus, South Ossetia, and Transnistria can also make a similar demand.

Note that Kosovo independence was proclaimed on February 17, 2008. 69 countries have recognized it so far.