Serbia will never recognise Kosovo's unilateral independence despite a UN court ruling backing Pristina's breakaway, President Boris Tadic said Thursday, adding that Belgrade sees legal nuances.
"Serbia of course will never recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo because it believes that unilateral, ethnically-motivated secession is not in accordance with the principles of the United Nations," he said after the International Court of Justice ruling.
While many interpret the ICJ ruling as an unequivocal backing of Pristina's independence Tadic said Belgrade saw some legal nuances.
ICJ president Hisashi Owada said the court ruled by 10 votes to four that Kosovo's independence declaration did not violate international law, which was the question before the judges.
"General international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence," the ICJ ruled.
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According to Belgrade the court took a very narrow view of the question and did not give an opinion about the right of Kosovo to break away from Serbia.
"The court did not rule on the right to secession but decided to examine only a technical aspect of the content of the declaration of independence. The court avoided an answer on the root of the question and left it to the United Nations General Assembly to draw the political conclusions," Tadic said.
