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Serbia challenge to Kosovo independence goes to U.N.

Other News Materials 8 October 2008 02:12 (UTC +04:00)

Serbia's efforts to challenge Kosovo's secession are expected to culminate this week in a United Nations decision on whether to ask a court if the region's independence is legal, reuters reported.

Forty-seven countries including the United States and most European Union countries have recognised Kosovo since its ethnic Albanian majority unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17, but Serbia and its ally Russia oppose it.

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on Wednesday whether to seek a non-binding advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovo's independence.

Many Serbs back such moves, hoping they will block further diplomatic recognition of Kosovo. But Goran Bogdanovic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said the pro-Western government also faced pressure from abroad not to force a vote on the issue.

"The pressure is coming from those countries that have already recognised Kosovo and that are influential," Bogdanovic told Reuters in an interview.

Serbia's foreign minister said last month that rejecting Belgrade's request to seek the World Court's opinion would send a signal that force was the way to solve problems.

The Serbian government also hopes a World Court review, which could take two to three years, would give it more time to solidify policies including seeking European Union membership.

"The initiative will buy time for Serbia," said Dusan Janjic, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Social Studies in Belgrade. "It will turn Kosovo into a matter of judiciary rather than the political one and will provide Serbia with enough time to formulate its new policy for Kosovo."

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