International law experts: ICJ must tread carefully

French AFP news agency said in an article published today that despite this, both the government in Belgrade and the one in Pristina have predicted legal victory.

The court will rule on the legality of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration independence, in the case forwarded to it by the UN General Assembly at Serbia's request.

 Now the agency said that experts believe the court will treat the issue "with some ambiguity", citing international law analysts as saying that the ICJ will "tread carefully".

"The court will try to avoid creating precedents, because then several other minorities will follow," University of Tilburg international law professor Willem van Genugten told AFP.

Jean D'Aspremont, international law expert at the University of Amsterdam, agreed the court would "never, never recognize a right to secede. That would be opening Pandora's Box." - nor was it likely, however, to declare the secession illegal, said the agency, stressing that the ruling will be "purely advisory and non-binding".

"The court does not want to make a fool of itself and make a grand judgment that would be completely disregarded by all actors."

AFP reports that Serbia is hoping for a post-ICJ debate in the UN, and quotes PM Mirko Cvetkovic as saying that such a discussion "will open the way for new talks on Kosovo", and noted that the Kosovo Albanian side have been "fiercely rejecting" ideas about renewed status talks.

Europe, the agency said, quoting a diplomatic source, "would support a UN General Assembly resolution on the resumption of dialogue to find an agreement on all the unresolved issues, bearing in mind the perspective of common EU integration, of Serbia and Kosovo".