Kosovo debate before ICJ will start on Dec. 1

http://www.emportal.rs/en/news/serbia/98906.html


17. September 2009. | 13:42

Source: Beta

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Sept. 16 that the official list of countries that will take part in the debate on the legality of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo before the Hague-based International Court of Justice has not been unveiled yet, adding that unconfirmed reports indicate that all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council will participate.

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Sept. 16 that the official list of countries that will take part in the debate on the legality of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo before the Hague-based International Court of Justice has not been unveiled yet, adding that unconfirmed reports indicate that all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council will participate.

"What we can confirm unofficially is that all five permanent U.N. Security Council members will take part in the debate, for the first time in history, just as this is the first ever debate on the legality of unilaterally declared secession," Jeremic said after a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Belgrade.

Sept. 15 was the last day for applying for the public debate before the ICJ, which will start on Dec. 1.

In the first stage of the process, written statements were submitted by 36 U.N. members and the Pristina authorities, which have a special status, as Kosovo is not a U.N. member.

In the second stage, 14 states submitted comments on other countries' statements. The Pristina authorities also have the right to orally elaborate their petition and respond to the arguments of secession opponents.

In August 2008, Serbia sent the U.N. a resolution calling on the General Assembly to ask the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.