Major world powers reiterate they will not recognize Kosovo
Major world powers such as Russia and China, but also EU member countries such as Slovakia and Cyprus reiterated they will not recognize Kosovo's secession from Serbia following the opinion of the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, July 23, 2010
Beijing announced that it will continue to respect Serbia's territorial integrity, and that it believes there is still room for new Kosovo status talks.
Chinese MFA spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing that China respects Serbia's territorial integrity, and believes that negotiations with the UN framework are the best way to find a solution acceptable to both sides.
"China firmly believes that the respect of national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the basic principle of international law, and the basis of today's global legal system," the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs said.
China believes that the ICJ advisory opinion does not stand in the way of finding an appropriate solution through negotiations, said the statement.
Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko stated that the government stand not to recognise Kosovo remains unchanged.
"Russia believes that the solution to the Kosovo issue lies only in the continuation of negotiations between the interested parties, which would be in keeping with Resolution 1244 UN SC," Nerestenko pointed out.
He added that Russia is "willing to continue providing active support".
According to Nesterenko, it was of key importance that the ICJ delivered an opinion which refers only to the declaration of independence, and that the court did not discuss the wider context of Kosovo's right to a unilateral secession from Serbia.
In its advisory opinion, the ICJ did not take a stand on the consequences of adopting this document, such as whether Kosovo is a state and whether the countries which recognised Kosovo had a legal right to do so.
The government in Bratislava announced that Slovakia's position will not be affected by the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
Ministry spokesman Peter Stano said that Slovakia will continue to base its position on the Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, whereby Kosovo will be under the supervision of the UN administration until the international status of the province is resolved by an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina or by the decision of the UN SC.
Slovakia is one of five EU member-states that have not recognized Kosovo
