Stunned and stung by the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision that Kosovo broke no law by declaring independence in 2008, Serbian leaders have remained defiant and vowed to continue fighting the secession, local newspapers said Friday.
"Serbia is not giving up" and "Battle for Kosovo continues" were some of the headlines over reports on statements by President Boris Tadic and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, who said that Serbia will challenge the ICJ decision in a debate at the United Nations, DPA reported.
Serbia had asked for - and expected - a favourable opinion from the ICJ and had hoped that it would both discourage more countries from recognizing its former province and add momentum to its demand for renewed talks on Kosovo.
Instead, Serbian politicians turned to damage control and are now insisting that the ICJ report must be debated at the UN General Assembly in September.
"A clash of interpretations now starts, the decision this autumn at the UN," the daily Danas said on its front page, while Politika quoted Tadic's words "The court released the question of Kosovo to the UN."
With the headline "Political decision by the Justice Court," the mass-circulation Blic sided with Serbian politicians who insisted that the ICJ made a political, not a legal, decision on Kosovo.
But for Albanians, who make up a 90-per-cent majority in Kosovo, the ICJ has finally closed the book on their drive for independence.
"ICJ: independence is legal," the Koha ditore daily said on its front page, repeating the words of politicians who said it was a "victory for Kosovo."
The Express ran a mocking "Thank you Vuk" headline, referring to Serbia's top diplomat Jeremic, who based his globe-trotting campaign against Kosovo's independence on expectations of a different ICJ ruling.
"For two years, he sought support and spent more than 1,000 hours in an airplane flying around the world," it said. "But he landed yesterday in the Hague."
Kosovar leaders immediately called on nations previously reluctant to recognize their nation until after the ICJ ruling - a non-binding judgement - to do so now.
Since Kosovo declared independence in February 2008, 69 countries, including the United States and major European powers, have recognized Kosovo, still much less than the two thirds of UN members it needs to become a member itself.