Serbian resolution wins UN GA backing

Good luck Serbia!! Hopefully justice will be obtained despite strong influence from law violators like the US. Portugal's bad decision is really upsetting but at least Serbia is still fighting and never give up.

Another hurdle passed for Serbia today. I'm incredibly pleased with the outcome, and give most of the credit to the efforts of Vuk Jeremic. He professionally placed Serbia's problem as an international issue that is common to dozens and dozens of cases throughout the world. He came off as incredibly diplomatic, as opposed to certain US and EU leaders who made no bone about their intentions of undermining this initiative every step of the way, and will continue to obstruct a clear and objective debate.

But with only 6 states voting No (and I'm curious to see who beyond Albania and the US voted No), there certainly appears to be a momentum in which a clear majority backs Serbia, if not chooses to not get in its way.

Yes, this was partially marred by Portugal's recognition, but many of us here pretty much expected one or two more recognitions to squeak though, and I'm still not sure what Macedonia and Montenegro have planned. But the more Kosovo is placed under the scrutiny of international arbitration, and less as a plan in American colonialism, the better.

Well done Tadic.
Well done Jeremic.
Well done Serbia.

pss - Your scenario is totally unrealistic. If the ICJ ruling goes ahead, then everything will be frozen and the development will not continue unaffected as you seem to think.

EULEX has not been deployed, other than in a different form under the UN, and the EU certainly has no right to give protectorate status.

You seem to be forgetting about the UN Security Council. Full deployment of EULEX cannot happen legally without the approval of the UNSC and Serbia itself. That's just how it stands.

Otherwise why do you think that the half measures are being adopted within Res. 1244 rather than full deployment? Because no matter how it is stretched or distorted, 1244 specifically and clearly states that Kosovo remains a province of Serbia.

Of course the best outcome for the Kosovo govt would be if the ICJ rules that the UDI was legal, but that has virtually no chance of happening (unless the ICJ is also now 'politicised').

Nobody is just going to wait around for the ruling - negotiations have to reopen.

Let's see what happens today - good luck Jeremic and Tadic.

News just in. Serbia wins the vote by 77 to 6. can anyone break down the votes - Yays, Nays, Abstentions??

Bravo Tadic & Jeremic.

Look, do not get me wrong, I love my country and my fellow Americans, BUT my country's government has really overstepped it's bounds in the past 15 yrs or so. The US had no business getting involved in what was essentially a civil war (I sometimes wonder how this country would have reacted if foreign governments had stuck their noses in our civil war). Anyway, I'm extremely satisfied that Serbia will get it's proverbial day in court and when the ICC votes that the UDI was illegal I can only hope this will bring all sides back to the bargaining table so a REAL and not forced resolution to the issue will be worked out.

Well I guess now everyone knows that at least a minimum of 77 countries will never recognize the Toy Republic of Kosovo.

And as for those who abstained, and there were many, (don’t fool yourselves in thinking that Abstaining is a vote in favor of Kosovo) these countries not including the one’s who were already arm wrestled in recognizing Kosovo, will not be doing any recognizing, any time soon, at least not until the ICJ gives its opinion in about 2 years or more, and if the ICJ rules in favor of Serbia which is the most likely outcome then hardly any of those fence sitting countries will recognize Kosovo, ever, in fact I suspect that at least half a dozen or more will withdraw their recognition if the ICJ rules in Serbia’s favor, I know Canada will, its been in the newspapers here in Canada,.. and If Canada withdraws their recognition then you have to know at least 4 or 5 more countries will probably do the same, probably most of the G8, which would be the final knock out blow to this thievery and restore international law once again.

In the mean time there will be little or know investment in Kosovo, especially not now when the world is waiting for an outcome from the ICJ, and joining world organizations will be Frozen, again until such time the ICJ gives its opinion.

I cannot help but ask myself if all this is worth it for the common Albanian who lives in Kosovo and I don’t mean the ones who post here on B92 of which most of them don’t even live in Kosovo.

77 to 6 eh?? My oh my, how the mighty have fallen :)). This is the best the albanian's colonial masters could muster?
At first I thought it may be the score of a Serbia vs. albania basketball game or something. To my surprise, it is actually the Serbia vs. US, justice versus power, result. Well done.
Cheers!!

Hello,

The long path to redemption and vindication has begun! Serbia's win in having their initiative regarding Kosovo's illegal declaration of independance will be heard in the International Court of law. Before you say 'so what' the ruling isn't binding... either way this is a very important decision granted by the UN security council members for two reasons. One: it will slow the recognition by more countries and depending on the ruling that will come back from the ICJ, present recognitions may be revoked. Secondly, this decision shows that no one Super Power is greater than International Law. Stew on that USA. You should be ashamed of yourself for firstly aligning with a gov't in KOSOVO that you branded a terrorist organization (the KLA). When the court comes back with a decision ruling that Kosovo's declaration of independance was illegal you will be humiliated in front of the whole world along with your 'puppet/pon' allies (Germany, UK, and France etc. etc.)

To those who question Serbia's legal sovereign rights as laid down in Resolution 1244:

Apart from the introductory summary which makes this very clear in itself, Article 10 of 1244 authorises "substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" [successor state = Serbia] for Kosovo. The Resolution therefore blocks independence.

Also, Resolution 1244 refers to international organisations being deployed in Kosovo "under United Nations auspices". This means that EULEX has to be approved by the UN Security Council.

Excellent outcome today, which shows that international law is not totally dead in the water.

Now let's expect lots of nations to try and affect the question put pefore the ICJ with various 'amendments'. Let them whistle.

pss,
your write beautiful fairy tales.

Kate, I am sure that the Serbian initiative most propably will go through today, but do you really think and beleive that ICJ will look only on the fact of the declaration of Independence. I am positively sure that they will take into consideration the following times: 1998 - 2008.

All you Serbs are daydreaming beleiving that Belgrade can rule Kosova again.

You really do not understand (or don't want to understand) that Tadic & Jeremic are spending your - taxpayers money giving way fancy dinners for different diplomatic bodies. That money should be distributed amongst the hardworking people of Serbia.

Let's see what the future brings, but I amm confident that Kosovo will be Independent Forever

77 vs. 6...

well, that´s quite a clear result, I´d say.

to the Albanian who chose to sign with "Ronaldo Portugal":

you couldn´t find a better nick-name, right? instead of that you are offending the righteous portuguese poeple...

What happened to all these EU
albanian cheer leaders?Abstention?Since they brag that kosovo UDI is irreversible why abstain?
Legally they haven't got aleg to stand on.What worries
me is that they might try another coup as they did with
Serbias application to international court about the legality of NATOs bombing on civilian targets in Serbia.

great news and very funny to see how the western media is in silence about this, if serbia had all the votes against then it would be big news in the western media
@the albanians who are pretending themselve as people from portugal.
grow up, just like sick people on the youtube and other sites who are pretending themselve as montenegrins with the goal of making hate between serbs/montenegrins although it is the same folk.

To JOVAN;
The righteous people of Portugal spoke when they recognized Kosova.

The really good thing is that "if" it goes to the ICJ, then everyone concerned can go on about their business. Serbia can move forward on agendas that will really benefit the people of Serbia. Kosovo can move forward on agendas that will benefit Kosovo.
Countries that wish to recognize Kosovo will continue to do so, those on the fence may wait until an opinion is rendered.
In 10-12 years and the whole landscape of global priorities has changed, an opinion will emerge and countries will decide then how they wish to deal with it.
That gives the Kosovar people a good safe 10 years to show the ability to develop a strong democratic economy with the assistance of their friends, or not. If they are successful the decision will not mean much, if they have failed it may mean more.
While this period does mean that Kosovo will not be able to participate as a member of the UN and some other international organizations, they would not be able to do so under threat of Russian veto anyway.
Without a new UN resolution taking effect 1244 will protect Kosovo from Serbian agression and the establishment of EULEX will extablish Kosovo as an EU protectorate as well.
All together this provides the rich nutrient soil for the seeds of a new country to be formed. What the Kosovars do with this is up to them.
And in 10 years the world, Serbia, and Kosovo can decide exactly what the opinion means to them at that time.

A somewhat symbolic victory for Serbia. However, have in mind that 74 abstained, 6+Liberia against and 17 that have recognized Kosova's independence voted for the resolution. So, 74 + 17 + 7 = 98. 77(minus Liberia)-17=59. Therefore, only 59 members truly voted for the resolution. While 77 abstained, 7 voted against and 17 voting on resolution that has no meaning to them.
If one looks at voting history of all resolutions before the General assembly will see that this resolution was passed with least votes by far. In addition, it is not over since the ruling of ICJ has not been reached and has no legal binding.

A discussion of Kosovo history will be great for Serbia because during Yugoslav times 1945-1991-Kosovo was always a part of Serbia. No matter how much autonomy Tito gave it to weaken Serbs he never made it a Republic equal to Serbia it was always part of Serbia. the UN always recognized it as part of Serbia. ALbanians always had voting rights and other rights.

To all honest people,

I am really glad that even under unseen pressure, blackmailing and arm-twisting, justice and logic prevailed. (Crushing 77 vs. 6 defeat).
That means that is still hope for this world. Driven by imperialistic torch and greed to low bottoms – world is heading to depression and most probable the big war because of poor decisions and moral faltering or world ex-leading nations and their slaves.

Again showing courage to confront mighty but mouse/hearted-cowboys – standing straight and proud – the justice and logic prevailed and give some hope that most of the democratic world is awakening.

I still can’t understand that someone can be against simple request for court/justice ruling. All those who were against it – some Albanians but still Serbian citizens with Serbia passports should look themselves in the eye and ask – Who is afraid of justice, court and law – those are on bad side, stealing and hiding something – simple wrongdoers. It looks only cowboys, ukis and some blind followers.

This is great news for Serbia! If you like it or not, NOW there will be talking, negotiations, meetings etc. Some people here do not seem to realize that the law will win for sure. It matters not that Kosovo is recognised by 25% of all countries. Now it will be a story that will last forever. Kosovo will never be a real country.

I love it when all these albanian posters are trying to spin this as a non-event.

So, it's not important because only 77 countries supported Serbia? Ha! Only 48 have recognised Kosovo. If 77 is small and insignificant, then what is 48??

And the funniest of all is the idea that 77 is insignificant compared to SIX, yes 6, that supported Pristina.

Of course there will be amendmends. I also support the idea to ask the ICJ for an opinion. However, you just cant ask a question the way it fits only one side.

If it goes to ICJ, it will have to take into consideration all circumstances, including the recent history, attrocities, the right to selfdetermination of people and of course the 1244 and Serbian sovereignity.

Only if ICJ considers all of these (and it will) can a just opinion be provided. And I have a very strong feeling that Serbia will be surprised with ICJ opinion.

I am really applauding very sober and nice (seriously!) writing from pss. It gives us some food for thougt, even if I don't agree with him/her on every point. Falemnderit!

I'm heartened by this vote. Despite how Albanians or Serbs see Kosovo this is an important issue that needs advice as Jeremic pointed out.

A good day for all of us.

But, speaking of int'l law: how come Serbia consistently claims coverage by int'l law over its Kosovo sovreginity claim, when this same law was repeatedly violated through the commission of unprecedented state-sponsored war crimes? What part of int'l law sanctions this kind of behavior?

Tell it to Georgia....

I have a feeling the ICC will be in favor of Serbia. It's a lot easier to send the Serbia/Kosovo issue back to the bargaining table than to allow all other separatist situations (South Ossetia, Abhkazia, Transniestr, MILF in the southern Phillipines, the ETA in the Basque region of Spain, Nagorno-Karabakh and others) a distinct precedent to use for their independence ambitions (and don't give me the "unique case" BS, the West is not the end all, be all on this planet, to think so is to be beyond arrogant).

Credit should be given where it is due: Jeremic deserves praise for having framed the issue in a manner that is most likely to leverage the delay in the resolution of this issue as a kind of brake against further recognitions.

The focus now shifts to whether the Albanian separatists or the Serbian people will make better use of the intervening years that the ICJ will now take to deliberate the question.

If the Serbian government does little more than it is now doing to preserve the Serb presence in Kosovo, then the initiative for an ICJ ruling has been nothing but a convenient fig leaf covering a real priority of entering the EU regardless of what happens to Kosovo. The Albanians are expecting such a result, confident in their belief that the Belgrade regime installed with US backing is really just seeking a quiet way to leave Kosovo.

On the other hand, the more Kosovo-centric Serbian patriotic opposition parties have the opportunity now to demand that the Western-backed Serbian ruling coalition prove by actions that it really means what it says when it claims that Kosovo is still part of Serbia.

The time has come for action on the part of Belgrade, not just words. Whatever actions they do take from here on will speak louder than anything said in the past two years of debate.

I am personally convinced that Tadic and the majority if his governing coalition are unwilling to do anything real to save Kosovo or to even make it a priority.

To those of us fundamentally committed to keeping Kosovo, this ICJ referral helps our cause and now allows us to refocus the debate toward taking actions on the ground inside Kosovo to secure existing Serbian enclaves, return refugees and commence new projects to consolidate Serbian sovereignty. I don't think that the US or EU have the stomach or resources to ride this out as long as Serbian patriots are willing to do (forever if necessary).

The process of returning Serbs to Kosovo and rolling back the illegal separation is now ahead of us.

Onward! (And check to your side to see if Jeremic stays with us as we move forward from words to actions.)

Sincerely,

John Bosnitch
Belgrade
john.b@imcnews.com

just like israel have been on ICJ since 1967 and no thing change thet cool

The reality is that Serbia has won the battle at the UN GA, but it is still too early for the champagne as ICJ advisory opinion is yet to come.
Let’s have a look concerning the vote in the UN GA: 77 PRO, 6+1 (Liberia) AGAINST, 74 ABSTAINED. Logical mathematics gives this result: 77 vs 81. But general rules that apply do not count the countries that abstain!!!
We all know that there were +- 17 countries that have voted PRO resolution even if they have already recognized our independence, that, just because that an opinion will hurt nobody.
Definitely the resolution is adopted and ICJ will have to come with an opinion. I will put here question that I have putted much earlier here in B-92 that is Serbia ready to accept whatever outcome from ICJ???
With the strong evidences that we have in favor of our definite split of the artificial creature so called Yugoslavia, I am truly convinced that, even thought only an opinion is to be given, we will at the end triumph, with the hope that even Serbia will accept the new reality and continue the path of prosperity and welfare because of the regional stability and prosperity.
I can only promise one thing that we Kosovars (including all communities) will continue our path towards building our newest state with the special focus on good relations with, first of all, our neighboring countries, including Serbia.

THANK YOU SERBIA!
Now the entire EU is with Kosova, Romania and Slovakia just recognized our passports, this leaves only Cyprus and Spain out of 27 nations!

And start threatening EU with Russia, they are really scared :-) h
"If the European Union does not admit us, we will be forced to seek other solutions with Russia," said Sutonovac for "Le Figaro."

Look at the map, all EU and NATO states around you.

Don't break out the champagne just yet. Now the member countries will debate the contents of the draft before a final version gets sent to the ICJ.

Patrik, you said "the member countries will debate the contents before sending it to ICJ". Well I certainly hope the Nay and Abstain voters will not be allowed to dictate any contents. They didn't want this to settle in a legal manner in the first place.

For the CORRECT INFORMATION:
Romania DID NOT recognize kosovo passports. They will not be used for entering the country, just for identification - Romanian Minister of External Affairs, oficial statements.
Romania voted YES for Serbia's resolution.

The vote is useless and meaningless. It actually shows that Serbias support is in fact small. 77 countries, that is but a third of the number of countries worldwide and when we look closer then we only see mainly a couple of brutal dictatorships and third world countries who by themselves suppress minorities. It is therefore understandable that they support Serbia.

Anyway, the recognition of Portugal today shows that Kosovo should just continue its path. Before the ICJ will find an end, years will pass, years in which more countries will recognize the Kosovo.

The only question is who will be next after Portugal.

pss,

You may be one of the most realistic commentors here yet. I don't agree with everything you've said, but your long-term predictions may actually spell out. Nice to hear another moderate voice around here.

What if ICJ says that Kosova has a legal right to be independent? Will then Serbs accept Kosova's Independence?
As you see the votes, the Pro independence let this question go to ICJ so then there the ICJ will be in favor of Kosova's Independence.
Unfortunately Serb politicians were not smart enough to see this and now their request will put the serb desire down and serb blind politicians will regret for what they did to their own.
Even Slovakia and Romania have accepted Kosova's passports which mean that they accept the new reality.

Many of the countries that are nowadays sovereign 'appeared' on the world's political map long before there was any 'international law' or even the UN. So to suggest that Kosovo's independence cannot be legitimiate given UN objections (which are only partly so) is to take a naive interpretation of how international relations function. Int'l law is an array of interests (simplistically said, of course) which, when there's no convergence, it is 'violated' repeatedly.

Kosovo's claim to statehood, amongst many valid claims, should be primarily anchored on the 'moral argument' of widespread state-sponsored killings which made Serbia's continued claim to sovereignity over Kosovo an untenable position. Note that the US's declaration of independence, long before there was any modern-day int'l law or an int'l org like the UN was based primarily on the idea of UK's colonial, repressive policy.

But, speaking of int'l law: how come Serbia consistently claims coverage by int'l law over its Kosovo sovreginity claim, when this same law was repeatedly violated through the commission of unprecedented state-sponsored war crimes? What part of int'l law sanctions this kind of behavior?

Again, I repeat, to all the Albanians trying to believe that this is some sort of victory by playing mathmatical games - and I will use YOUR thesis on how to make the numbers add up.

There are 192 sovereign member states in the UN. 48 have recognised your independence and the rest have not. Some have said no, and some have abstained.

So, in the UN vote today, according to your logic, 77 were in support of Serbia, and 80 were against.

When it comes to recognising Kosovo as independent, according to YOUR logic, 48 are with you and 144 are against!!!!!

How can you call this a victory?

So essentially only a minority voted for this, although the rules do not take into account those that abstained.

Interesting. Could you guys publish the list of the countries that voted and in what way?

I imagine the next phase will be about amandments etc. But Kosovo needs to feel better that this vote was not 97 or above, and the Serbian govt gets a symbolic victory mainly for domestic purposes, so hopefully things will cool down a bit and everyone will go their own way with their head high, knowing that they did everything they could on the issue.

Serbia won, because the procedure was so, but don't forgot 74 states abstained and 6 voted against, more than 30 states don't were there, so it's not the majority of the member states. Second, the ICJ must and will take all facts in consider, from 1974 until 2008, the 1974 constitution, we unileateral cancelation of the Kosovo constitution by Serbian Assembly in 1989, the break-up of yugoslavia, the badinter recommendation, etc. So it will be hard to say who will win, but i will hope that if Serbia lose the opinion, to accept that and to recognize Kosovo, and contra.

This not great news for any side in my openion, today we saw, 74 yes and 76 abstenate and 4 said no.

now the reason is think this is bad news for all: 74 that said yes only confirmed that they are happy with any country to ask for an openion of the icj and that is it! countries that have said yes have also said that they will still recognise Kosovo as this rulling does not have any effect in their decision.

So Serbia is trying to delay the membership of Kosovo in the UN nothing else. Even if Serbia wins the ICJ nothing is going to change Kosovo is Independant, before the ICJ rulling Montenegro and Macedonia will recognise Kosovo now where do you think this is leaving the situation.

Congratulations to the Serbian Goverbnment. A well deserved victory.

This can be spun in all sorts of ways, but the fact remains that the decision has been made to move the issue to the ICJ. That is all that really matters at this point. The GA resolution, no matter how narrow the margin of victory (after all, a law is still a law no matter how narrowly it is passed in parliament), clearly indicates that in the eyes of the world's states Kosovo's independence is, at best, questionable.

As for the argument that 17 states that have recognised voted in favour, this is wrong. By my calculation, it is actually a very small number - notably, Iceland, Liechenstein, Norway and Costa Rica. It is certainly not the 17 that someone here was arguing.

In any case, if I were in Pristina I would be very worried about the high number of abstentions. The decision to abstain was made in almost every case out of respect for the ICJ, and the wish not to be seen to be trying to impede international law. Under these circumstances, it hardly seems likely that these countries would then choose to ignore the findings of the Court if it rules against independence. This would suggest that there will be a lot of retractions, and a lot of pressure for new talks if it does come out against the UDI.

Of course, if it rules in favour then the issue will be settled. Serbia has said as much, on a number of occasions. The onyl problem then, and this was hinted at yesterday by Britain, there is a danger that any decision on Kosovo could then be 'selectively' read by other secessionist groups elsewhere. In this sense, I think that Kosovo might find itself under a lot of pressure from the EU to do a deal with Serbia before the ruling. In this sense, I think that Serbia's position is now actually rather strogn either way.

Of course, if Kosovo decides not to go back to talks it will not lose all support if the ICJ rules against. The USA, Albanian, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Nauru all voted against the resolution!

@ Art - please try reading Kate's comment again. You have clearly not understood her point.

"Against (6):

Albania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, United States."

It is good to see that the world has not completely lost its mind with regards to international law and that America is alone on this one (aside from some dependencies/ex-colonies and a pet, as per the list against). I wish this sort of thing would happen more often to show how deconstructive the US is capable of being.

Why is it that so many albanain posters here ask the ICJ to consider what happened to Serbia in the last decade or so before the Kosovo war? When you try a thief (or any felon for that matter) do you look at his records and previous lawsuits as a means to determine the outcome of his present hearing???

Does this mean if someone has a history (several lawsuits) of robbing people, then he himself gets robbed by someone else... Does this mean he DESERVES to loose in court (in other words, to get robbed) because of his history of committing the crime to others? This is of course assuming that the people he robbed got justice and this person was punished.

I am not suggesting here that Serbia has a history of crime, though I admit we are not angels (great Serbian movie btw, if anyone saw it :P). All I want to point out is that THIS ICJ case is about the legality of Kosovo's UDI (i.e. its violation of UNSC 1244) and THAT'S ALL. Yes there were other secessionist movements in the region previously, however that is not the subject of the upcoming ICJ hearing (congrats to Vuk btw).

As for the outcome of this vote, I have to say I am a bit (pleasantly) surprised. So few against the initiative and so many abstained, this proves only that many of the nations that have recognized did so out of pressure/bullying from higher powers. The real diplomatic battle is on now, however I do have a gut feeling that the ICJ will not come up with a definitive ruling such as in favor or not. It is also uncertain how long this case will go on for. It may very well take 10 years or more as the 1st poster here mentions.

An important victory has been achieved,it is the first step toward the reintegration of this part of Southern Serbia under our control,but make no mistake the fight has just begun,probably it will take decades till we will see the Serbian flag over Pristina and the Pastrik mountain.
I quote Njegos:"Neka borba bude neprestana do istrage njihove ili nase!"

pss – its refreshing to see a comment with some sense and rational thinking on b92 these days. Predominantly comments on b92 are emotive and I understand that, however it doesn’t represent the reality of the situation on the ground. Although it could be argued to reflect the division amongst the communities, respectively amongst serbians and kosovars.

Kate- I do respect you consistency on your views and also respect your interpretation of the situation. You said “Because no matter how it is stretched or distorted, 1244 specifically and clearly states that Kosovo remains a province of Serbia”. This is very much a wishful thinking, it doesn’t specifically nor clearly confirm what you state in your comment. Perhaps you should refer to the actual resolution again, only this time review it objectively whilst taking into account wider circumstances on the situation.

You also said “Of course the best outcome for the Kosovo govt would be if the ICJ rules that the UDI was legal, but that has virtually no chance of happening (unless the ICJ is also now 'politicised').” Am sure you are aware of the notion that you are innocent until proven guilty, thus you should wait as ‘pss’ suggested for another 10 years and see what the ICJ ruling would be. In the meantime, kosova will continue to develop its institutions and public services and serbia will continue its path to EU where (am sure many would agree) it belongs.

In the mean time there will be little or know investment in Kosovo, especially not now when the world is waiting for an outcome from the ICJ, and joining world organizations will be Frozen, again until such time the ICJ gives its opinion.

I cannot help but ask myself if all this is worth it for the common Albanian who lives in Kosovo and I don’t mean the ones who post here on B92 of which most of them don’t even live in Kosovo.
(Canadian, 8 October 2008 20:23)

I was not glad at all that this nonsense initiative passed the UNGA meeting. I don't care about the result of this initiative. The one thing I care about is the time that will be wasted until we have the final word from the ICJ. And the result, not just because I am an Albanian but because my logic, referring to the facts, tells me so, will be on our favor (and this means in Serbian favor as well, knowing that Serbia cannot go towards EU and NATO if it does not recognize us). Being Kosovar Albanian was not easy from 1974 until 1998 (though I was born after 1974). For some reason, I support South Osetia and Abkhazia as well, just by knowing that they suffered like us. Don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to give you guys a lesson, cz these are well known facts, but I just wanna remind the Serbs that when the time comes to bring the facts on the table at the ICJ, we will have enough to say, sufficiently enough to win the case. Of course, you Serbians cannot agree with me (and with some other posters above) that your President and Foreign Minister spent your money to “buy” those 77 votes. I’m just supposing, not concluding anything. Time will tell if my, the Albanian people, or yours, the Serbian people, opinion was the righteous one.

Good luck to everyone.

Update: To those of you who always said Slovakia will never recognize Kosova passports, I warned you guys! Thank you Slovakia and Romania.

Tomorrow, the number of the democratic countries list to recognize Kosova will increase to at least 49, probably 50.

Greets (as usual) from Prishtina!

The United States and Albania voted against the adoption of the resolution.
They were joined by the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.

I like how our adversaries are trying to joggle numbers around. All Serbia needed is actually 7 countries to win this resolution. Sense their was only 6 NO votes. This was not popularity vote. It was simple majority YES or NO vote to send the resolution to ICJ. How many voted YES or NO has no binding what so ever on ICJ outcome. But if you look above the countries that voted NO, looks like Bushes “ coalition of the willing” part two, when he went to war in Iraq. “Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.” Now if this is not funny I don’t know what is. Is this all they could muster.

the first comment about this article (by pss) is still the most refreshingly rational comment here and i don't expect that to change (even though there are a few other good ones). people are too emotional about this. which is perhaps why more long-term thinking is needed. there probably won't be any quick solutions to this and serbs and albanians will have to live next to and hopefully with each other in the future. wishful thinking on both sides isn't going to change anything.

Im Albanian and im glad that it went through. Now let the ICQ decide
(uli, 8 October 2008 19:21)

LOL, Uli, on ICQ it's merely us who can argue - and it has zero importance for the politicians what we say. What you mean is ICJ, International Court of Justice, not ICQ.

Dear B-92

What I would further prefer is you to remove “Kosovo status” agenda from your web site as this issue is definitely over. As of today we are definitely an independent and sovereign country. Serbia has achieved all what was in his ability, and as this issue has reached ICJ, there is nothing more left to be done. It’s over.

74 abstaining + 6 against= 80 votes not in favour of Serbia's resolution.
People normally abstain just not to say no.

If these 74 countries recognize Kosova it's fine for us.

My country, Albania should have voted in favour in my opinion: every member-country must have the right to address the ICJ.

Dear B92 staff, when censoring my post, try re-framing it, cz it makes no sense at all why I have quoted Canadian's post!
Allow me to clarify myself, and tell the Canadian poster that he cannot fool us being a Canadian, cz the word KNOW and NO are not the same, and a Canadian probably wouldn't make such a mistake!

That's it!

New York Times (commenting on UN GA decision to review Kosovo 'independence'

:
" The case of Kosovo’s independence will be particularly difficult. While international law recognizes certain formal steps toward independence by former colonies in places like Africa or Latin America, there are no similar guidelines for secession in more established regions like Europe, said Nicolas Burniat, a lawyer who worked for the court for six years and is now with Human Rights First, a nonprofit group that works for human rights."

A good start for the preparation of the Serbian legal
argument?

The draft resolution on the request for an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on whether the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo is in accordance with international law (document A/63/L.2) was adopted by a recorded vote of 77 in favour to 6 against, with 74 abstentions, as follows:

In favour (77):

Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Fiji, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Timor-Leste, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against (6):

Albania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, United States.

Abstain (74):

Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, REP OF Moldova, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Yemen.

Absent (34):

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Venezuela.

Not counted (1):

Liberia

Im Albanian and im glad that it went through. Now let the ICQ decide if is legal or not. Both parties should accept the decission. If no party accept the decission there is no reason to bring this case to ICQ at first place. Anyway,, whatever decission might be,, it will be fair and justice. Serbia and Kosova should accept it and sit down for a solution. Im afraid that ICQ based on facts that we all know will give the right to Albanians of Kosova.

"I cannot help but ask myself if all this is worth it for the common Albanian who lives in Kosovo and I don’t mean the ones who post here on B92 of which most of them don’t even live in Kosovo."

I am amazed at how little Serbs know about happened in Kosova over the 97 years in Serbian hands. If you think that Albanians will accept slavery again on Serbian hands because investment might be delayed for 2 years, you have no clue about Albanians. Albanians have 'never' paid taxes and never expected much from the state for millenia, but today, as poor as they are, they are richer than ever. Hand out million dollar payments and only 10% will give up freedom for them. 'We have changed' means nothing to an Albania, we know very very well.

Economically, Serbs will cave first (like they did by electing Tadic) than Albanians. Albanians have EU and G8 on their side.

Keep fighting Serbia!!!! because as long as you fight for meaningless things you will be able to feed your nationalistic IX century apirations and dreams.

Just keep feeding the monster that is Serbian nationalism and you will end up where you always have "at war and alone".

Some radicals in Raska have probably already written and are singing songs about the "Nine Jeremic's" and Boris Tadic's latest soundtrack "Its better to live like a gulag then lose Kosovo"

mihai,

The Slovakian Goverment has issued a similuar statement, the passports will not be valid to lawfuly entry to Slovakia but can be used for legal identification. Amazing how the Albanins twist these stories to suit themselves.

And as for the writer who accused me of not being Canadian because I made a typo, writing Know instead of "No", you make me Laugh! I am All Canadian buddy, Hockey runs in my veins. And finally for the writer who claims I should get my facts straight that in actually 17 of the 77 YES votes for Serbia were EU Countries, I suggest that it is YOU who needs to get your facts straight, that in fact 16 EU states abstained from voting and only 6 EU countries who have recognized Kosovo have voted yes, this not including the 5 Eu Countries that refuse to recognize Kosovo and voted yes too! So in fact only 11 voted yes, and 16 abstained.

In case of pro Kosovo's decision, Serbia will cite that the opinion is "non binding", maybe declare the same court that it asked the opinion from as "biased" or "politised".
In case of pro- Serbia's decision, Kosovo will cite that the its independence is matter of the will of the people who live there and not of some burocratic judge sitting in a chair in NYC.
(Niko, 9 October 2008 05:28)

Niko, the importance of this is very different.

For bush: this is a diplomatic disaster. Good riddance of him soon, may he have a long term one day. This is important for all of us because he is a big piece of failure both politically and economically. IMO, he is also a criminal, hope one day there will be a court for him.

For Kosovo: regardless, where is our stance, we can agree, their leaders did a very poor job. We do not agree, but I say, these leaders have a lot of black-market money and a lot of blood on their hands. We probably agree: they have to go. There are much better and smarter people in Kosovo. I mean here intellectuals and professionals. Coincidently, they are more fit to settle issues with Serbia Proper, too. So it's a good thing essentially, even if you feel bitter.

For Serbia: very positive outcome, but it's not a done deal yet. hope more intellectuals and professionals will come on board. Good message for $$$ to come, but a little warning to both Serbia and Kosmet: don't sell your firstborns to the highest bidders to soon, like it happened all over East Europe. Be the bidders from USA or Russia or EU.

For the rest of the world: thanks to position your foot on bush's backside.

Those voting in favour are hardly the irrelevant or the mad: Egypt, Norway, Brazil, South Africa. There is considerable unhappiness within the group of developing countries (some of whom aspire to Security council seats) at the way US/UK/France have behaved, esp in relation to Israel,Georgia Iraq et al. There are many who are distressed at the rush to welcome Thaci and his wannabee democrats to the table and there is even more unease at the manner Georgia and Ukraine are being lured towards NATO, esp after the recent stupidity of arming Georgia and expecting a man like Sakishvilli to act responsibly.
The international community really does hope Serbia can strengthen its economy, create stability and show it can move on by its own efforts. The ICJ could well rule in Serbia's favour and many countries would breathe a huge sigh of relief if this should happen.

My dear Canadian, what are you talking about? From the 77 states, that voted in favor of the resolution, 17 of them have reconized Kosovo. So please, you must inform yourself better. Someone talked here about a crushing defeat. Well, 77 voted for the resolution, 6 against (seven, with Liberia) and 74 didnt vote. Well, the Asambly traditionaly votes with a far more greater majority in other issues. Its e Pirros victory for Serbia, Slovakia and Rumania accepted today our passports, Macedonia will tomorrow reckognize our independence. So, enjoy "your victory".

The news in "balkaninsight",

are more precise.

Summary:

1) Indeed, it was a very big victory from Serbian point of view, because not just the GA approved the resolution to seek the ICJ, but almost as importantly, they did throw out the last-minute British motion.

As it stands:

"the UN General Assembly ruled out a suggestion by Britain to give Kosovo authorities the chance to have their say at the World Court."

An "undemocratic" as it sounds, it was IMO a correct decision for two reasons:

a) /lesser/: the current "authorities" in Kosovo have blood all over their hands.
b) /major/: that would mean implicit recognition of Kosovo by UN.


As expected, both Albania and USA were opposing. Who are the other four? Most likely, Turkey. Other three?

Interesting fact: UK found a very unusual "excuse" to abstain:

"John Sawyers, the British ambassador to the UN, said after the vote that his country abstained from voting because it supports Kosovo's independence".

This shows all. I rather prefer Albania to UK. At least their stance was clear. The "I abstain because I am against it" is a coward move. Congratulations to UK to be a coward. If you mean it seriously, than do it.

Instead, they submit a last-minute motion, after it is thrown out, they cowardly walk away.

This is a note to both Serb and Albanian gang: here are your past, current and future "supporters". IMO, that was pathetic, but tell me if I am not right.

2) Romania and Slovakia INDEED accept Kosovo passports!

What is odd: even Koha Ditore does not know about it, no news, so really it looked like an other "duck" - but it is not. Apologies. But to add some criticism to the people at balkaninsight - isn't Kosovo travel document in red color, with the security chip? Because than the picture is completely wrong. Why not report it right?

My comment: as far as I know, Russia does accept the passport. USA, too. Getting a visa is an other sad story. Basically a good decision, I am strongly against any visa regime. Let the police catch the bad guys. The ones who are really bad, have perfect Swiss passports anyway.

Well, we should all know that whatever happens, recognize or not Kosovo, support serbs or albanians, There is NO turning back! Serbia lost Kosovo in 1999 and that's a FACT! United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria etc. they all have embassies in Prishtina. Do you thing they will close them if ICJ says "Independence is illegal?"

Slovak government didn't recognize kosovo passeports, I know nothing about it. Those are just Thaci's lies.

The following excerpt from Kate’s previous post struck me as disturbing:
Of course the best outcome for the Kosovo govt would be if the ICJ rules that the UDI was legal, but that has virtually no chance of happening (unless the ICJ is also now 'politicised').
By all means what Kate thinks is perhaps a majority held view among Serb commentators here and conceivably among half of Serbia’s population.
Now I am all for an ICJ decision to settle this issue once and for all (for bragging rights at least), but the irresponsible nature with such blatant remarks is revealing to say the least. Kate has a preconceived notion of the ICJ as being politicized when it doesn’t rule in their favor. For Christ’s sake they outright deny genocide taking place in Srebrenica even though the ICJ quite crisply declared it to be so and accused Serbia of not preventing it (that is a crime in itself, see Genocide Convention).
Now for Kate to unashamedly say that any decision that does not rule positively for Serbia would be considered “political” is just a disappointment in its own right. The unbelievable inability to compromise and come to a rational conclusion that does not contradict with their perceived intentions (Serbs want the ICJ to convey its opinion on whether Kosovo’s independence is legal right?) disrespectable and just confirms the uncooperative nature of Serbia with international institutions.

Here is the complete list of countries and their stands :

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/ga10764.doc.htm

As Albanian I'd like to congratulate Serbia on their diplomatic effort trying to pass the Kosovo independence case to the ICJ.
Now let's see how the court will proceed and try to interpret the international law.
ICJ decision (pro independence or against independence) or denial of making of a decision, whatever the outcome is kind opens "Pandora's box" too in the same context that the UDI of Kosovo does. By asking the World Court even for an "nonbinding opinion" Serbia is setting the dangerous precendent of accepting that the will of the people for independence is decided by the "world goverment" (aka ICJ).

Let's see what the opinion of the ICJ will be. Will apply the principles of equality among nations, thus uphelding Kosovo's declaration of independance as legal (see the cases of independences of African nations from colonial rule) or will apply the principles of the sanctity of the borders of a state - no matter how this state treats its own citizens, thus invalidating every UDI.
Even worse it will be the "no opinon at all" decision for lack of juristiction, which it will continue the current status quo, where independence of Kosovo will be recognized by some states, ignored as a problem by some others and non recognized at all by others.
Funny part is, that whatever the decision will be, none of Serbia or Kosovo will be binding by the court's opinion on their decisions.
In case of pro Kosovo's decision, Serbia will cite that the opinion is "non binding", maybe declare the same court that it asked the opinion from as "biased" or "politised".
In case of pro- Serbia's decision, Kosovo will cite that the its independence is matter of the will of the people who live there and not of some burocratic judge sitting in a chair in NYC.

For Christ’s sake they outright deny genocide taking place in Srebrenica even though the ICJ quite crisply declared it to be so and accused Serbia of not preventing it (that is a crime in itself, see Genocide Convention).
(Art, 9 October 2008 01:06)

i think there is a lot of confusion about the icj ruling in the case bosnia vs serbia, especially about srebrenica. icj did not investigate the srebrenica case. it simply considered the ruling of the other court - icty - valid and declared that serbia did not act to prevent what had happened there. this implies that all other countries that failed to act to prevent this are equally responsible. accordingly, nato countries, and the netherlands more than any other country, are not any more or less guilty than serbia, but serbia was the only country mentioned because it was a case against that country.

So you think Serbia's support is small Berkely (No 15) So what would you call Kososvo's support- only 6 including their American masters and Albania!!!

"They will not be used for entering the country, just for identification "

:) Splitting hairs? If they enter Romania with different passports, why use the Kosova ones for identification? And why announce it the same day they voted? Greece has recognized the passports but voted NO by the way

Let's discuss something else besides what UN will do about Kosovo which is nothing, Some countries just bypassed the UN and gave a country independence and expected Serbia to say sure no problem take Kosovo. Now you have a EULEX Corp with no money, the world economy is in the toliet. That big donor conference probably won't be able to come up with the money it promised. MP in Kosovo Parliment wanted there own cars and a secretary and talking about use the donor funds wisely. LOL, so please let's talk about the world economy and put this foolishness about who support the resolution who had 17 that recognized Kosovo voted for it please folks wake and get a life, a job and move forward.

To Ataman,
I am not quite sure how the passing of this resolution that Serbia asked will "get rid" of Bush. His mandate as President of USA is expiring.
Can you please elaborate?

Also, I am not sure if this is diplomatic disaster for Bush or Serbia itself by judging who actually backed Serbia. I would have been very reserved on calling this victory after being backed by some countries with the worst records on human rights (like North Korea, Sudan and Iran), while the majority of democratic countries choose to abstain (read -have no opinion at all) or not vote at all for that matter.

As per your beleives that there are intellectuals in Kosovo who will prefere to settle the issues will Serbia instead of independence, allow me to correct you. You are wrong! With the exeption of few uninfluential K-Albanians yugonostalgics who there own family members wouldn't vote for them, all intelectuals and politicians in Kosovo support full independence from Serbia.
That's the reality.

It is good to see that the world has not completely lost its mind with regards to international law and that America is alone on this one (aside from some dependencies/ex-colonies and a pet, as per the list against). I wish this sort of thing would happen more often to show how deconstructive the US is capable of being.
(Peter Sudyka, 9 October 2008 11:35)

P
eter as that Chinese proverb says "Beware of what you wish for".

I believe you are Polish ..... it is enough for me as an American to remind you that there will always be a Russia for you to rely on if US, seems so destructive. One must agree with Donald Rumsfeld when he said "Old Europe". Twisted and unreliable. Unbelivable.

Those voting in favour are hardly the irrelevant or the mad: Egypt, Norway, Brazil, South Africa. There is considerable unhappiness within the group of developing countries (some of whom aspire to Security council seats) at the way US/UK/France have behaved, esp in relation to Israel,Georgia Iraq et al. There are many who are distressed at the rush to welcome Thaci and his wannabee democrats to the table and there is even more unease at the manner Georgia and Ukraine are being lured towards NATO, esp after the recent stupidity of arming Georgia and expecting a man like Sakishvilli to act responsibly.
The international community really does hope Serbia can strengthen its economy, create stability and show it can move on by its own efforts. The ICJ could well rule in Serbia's favour and many countries would breathe a huge sigh of relief if this should happen.

What ever I said, it would not much differ from the other posted comments in here. I would look back at proclaimed “victory” by some co-commentators; 77 out of 190 votes in favor to send the issue to the ICJ – are not the majority. Even they were the majority still the situation is not in favor to Serbia, because of few but very crucial reasons. Firstly, Mr. Jeremic and Co. was either unwilling or “uninformed” about Kosovo’s status in the former Yugoslavia. In my opinion, constitutional character of Kosovo as one of the former Yugoslavian unit should be taken as an asset in favor of independence.
Arguments shows that recently most relevant Int. factors have brought (after a long process) a plan that envisages a supervised Independence for Kosovo. Hereupon, it was a joint conclusion (legal) of the entire Democratic part of the World. Thus, it is a reality which should be taken into consideration at ICJ. I would not go through the long story that derived such a conclusion by Kosova people in accord with the rest of the democratic world.
At the end; I admire Mr. Jeremic’s courage in such an initiative, furthermore when Kosovo issue will be judged simultaneously with the leading Serbian politicians (Hague tribunal)accused for most heartless mistreatments done to the people of Kosova?!

What we are missing here in these discussions is the REALITY.

Practically, these measures and even a possible Intl Court Ruling in favor of Serbia, will indeed slow down the recognision of Kosovo. So what? For how long will that be? 5-10 years? I think, Serbia here is underestimating the Kosovo Albanians' patience and resolve. They don't care.

There is no price, they are not willing to pay to remove themselves from serbian rule.
And now that they are closer than ever, their resolve is even greater.

Yes there might be some economic tough times there for a while, but Serbia knows very well K-Alb will never ever go back to live under a Serbian state. In fact serbian policies so far has made Kosovo able to survive under such conditions, as many Kosovars under serb regime immigrated and now live and work abroad especially in western countries, which gives them a means to survive these tough times.

Further the instability arasing from the status issue will force Western countries to help Kosovo even more.

I am not really familiar with the workings of the ICJ. But if this court works like the supreme court in the US, and there are a number of judges, then I would guess an opinion would be submitted by the majority that decide to vote one way.

But that's where I want to know more about the specifics, because we are talking about only an opinion, and in the end even the minority opinion will be respected if that's how this thing works.

If I am correct in my assumption, then I will predict that the majority opinion will be that this is a Unique Case, no precedent, and due to the historical abuses of international law by Serbia Kosovo has a right to self-determination. The minority opinion will be that it sets a precedent and probably not favorable to the self-determination rule.

If there is a unanimous decision required, then with amendments and other legal jargon, the opinion will be very vague and will allow both sides to claim victory.

The reason for this is because the world wants Kosovo independent, but at the same time it wants Serbia in the EU and prospering so that the Balkans stabilize. There's no way that the opinion will be anything that can cause a big rift in any way.

In the end, both sides will say we have the opinion that we wanted I guess.

Unfortunately this will not solve anything because Serbia needs to come to terms with Kosovo for the region to have a peaceful, stabilizing and prospering future.

Let's hope that that will happen, but yes it will take time. You cannot expect to just shove it down the Serbia's throat but slowly things will calm as with Serbia accepting EULEX and other EU measures.

For his part, however, the representative of Albania “respectfully disagreed”, saying that today’s activities were an attempt--“logistically legal, but in essence, manipulative”--to stall the process of Kosovo’s recognition, with the intention of causing detrimental effects on the ground. As one of the six countries to vote against the resolution, Albania believed the Balkans deserved to channel its energies towards building a common future for the prosperity of all. “Old stereotypes of getting even are outdated–-everywhere”, he added.

In favour: Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Fiji, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Timor-Leste, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.



Against: Albania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, United States.



Abstain: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, REP OF Moldova, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Yemen.



Absent: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Venezuela.

Kate, I am sure that the Serbian initiative most propably will go through today, but do you really think and beleive that ICJ will look only on the fact of the declaration of Independence. I am positively sure that they will take into consideration the following times: 1998 - 2008.

All you Serbs are daydreaming beleiving that Belgrade can rule Kosova again.

You really do not understand (or don't want to understand) that Tadic & Jeremic are spending your - taxpayers money giving way fancy dinners for different diplomatic bodies. That money should be distributed amongst the hardworking people of Serbia.

Let's see what the future brings, but I amm confident that Kosovo will be Independent Forever

The really good thing is that "if" it goes to the ICJ, then everyone concerned can go on about their business. Serbia can move forward on agendas that will really benefit the people of Serbia. Kosovo can move forward on agendas that will benefit Kosovo.
Countries that wish to recognize Kosovo will continue to do so, those on the fence may wait until an opinion is rendered.
In 10-12 years and the whole landscape of global priorities has changed, an opinion will emerge and countries will decide then how they wish to deal with it.
That gives the Kosovar people a good safe 10 years to show the ability to develop a strong democratic economy with the assistance of their friends, or not. If they are successful the decision will not mean much, if they have failed it may mean more.
While this period does mean that Kosovo will not be able to participate as a member of the UN and some other international organizations, they would not be able to do so under threat of Russian veto anyway.
Without a new UN resolution taking effect 1244 will protect Kosovo from Serbian agression and the establishment of EULEX will extablish Kosovo as an EU protectorate as well.
All together this provides the rich nutrient soil for the seeds of a new country to be formed. What the Kosovars do with this is up to them.
And in 10 years the world, Serbia, and Kosovo can decide exactly what the opinion means to them at that time.

Of course there will be amendmends. I also support the idea to ask the ICJ for an opinion. However, you just cant ask a question the way it fits only one side.

If it goes to ICJ, it will have to take into consideration all circumstances, including the recent history, attrocities, the right to selfdetermination of people and of course the 1244 and Serbian sovereignity.

Only if ICJ considers all of these (and it will) can a just opinion be provided. And I have a very strong feeling that Serbia will be surprised with ICJ opinion.

Serbia won, because the procedure was so, but don't forgot 74 states abstained and 6 voted against, more than 30 states don't were there, so it's not the majority of the member states. Second, the ICJ must and will take all facts in consider, from 1974 until 2008, the 1974 constitution, we unileateral cancelation of the Kosovo constitution by Serbian Assembly in 1989, the break-up of yugoslavia, the badinter recommendation, etc. So it will be hard to say who will win, but i will hope that if Serbia lose the opinion, to accept that and to recognize Kosovo, and contra.

The vote is useless and meaningless. It actually shows that Serbias support is in fact small. 77 countries, that is but a third of the number of countries worldwide and when we look closer then we only see mainly a couple of brutal dictatorships and third world countries who by themselves suppress minorities. It is therefore understandable that they support Serbia.

Anyway, the recognition of Portugal today shows that Kosovo should just continue its path. Before the ICJ will find an end, years will pass, years in which more countries will recognize the Kosovo.

The only question is who will be next after Portugal.

To JOVAN;
The righteous people of Portugal spoke when they recognized Kosova.

pss – its refreshing to see a comment with some sense and rational thinking on b92 these days. Predominantly comments on b92 are emotive and I understand that, however it doesn’t represent the reality of the situation on the ground. Although it could be argued to reflect the division amongst the communities, respectively amongst serbians and kosovars.

Kate- I do respect you consistency on your views and also respect your interpretation of the situation. You said “Because no matter how it is stretched or distorted, 1244 specifically and clearly states that Kosovo remains a province of Serbia”. This is very much a wishful thinking, it doesn’t specifically nor clearly confirm what you state in your comment. Perhaps you should refer to the actual resolution again, only this time review it objectively whilst taking into account wider circumstances on the situation.

You also said “Of course the best outcome for the Kosovo govt would be if the ICJ rules that the UDI was legal, but that has virtually no chance of happening (unless the ICJ is also now 'politicised').” Am sure you are aware of the notion that you are innocent until proven guilty, thus you should wait as ‘pss’ suggested for another 10 years and see what the ICJ ruling would be. In the meantime, kosova will continue to develop its institutions and public services and serbia will continue its path to EU where (am sure many would agree) it belongs.

just like israel have been on ICJ since 1967 and no thing change thet cool

A somewhat symbolic victory for Serbia. However, have in mind that 74 abstained, 6+Liberia against and 17 that have recognized Kosova's independence voted for the resolution. So, 74 + 17 + 7 = 98. 77(minus Liberia)-17=59. Therefore, only 59 members truly voted for the resolution. While 77 abstained, 7 voted against and 17 voting on resolution that has no meaning to them.
If one looks at voting history of all resolutions before the General assembly will see that this resolution was passed with least votes by far. In addition, it is not over since the ruling of ICJ has not been reached and has no legal binding.

What if ICJ says that Kosova has a legal right to be independent? Will then Serbs accept Kosova's Independence?
As you see the votes, the Pro independence let this question go to ICJ so then there the ICJ will be in favor of Kosova's Independence.
Unfortunately Serb politicians were not smart enough to see this and now their request will put the serb desire down and serb blind politicians will regret for what they did to their own.
Even Slovakia and Romania have accepted Kosova's passports which mean that they accept the new reality.

Dear B-92

What I would further prefer is you to remove “Kosovo status” agenda from your web site as this issue is definitely over. As of today we are definitely an independent and sovereign country. Serbia has achieved all what was in his ability, and as this issue has reached ICJ, there is nothing more left to be done. It’s over.

Good luck Serbia!! Hopefully justice will be obtained despite strong influence from law violators like the US. Portugal's bad decision is really upsetting but at least Serbia is still fighting and never give up.

Many of the countries that are nowadays sovereign 'appeared' on the world's political map long before there was any 'international law' or even the UN. So to suggest that Kosovo's independence cannot be legitimiate given UN objections (which are only partly so) is to take a naive interpretation of how international relations function. Int'l law is an array of interests (simplistically said, of course) which, when there's no convergence, it is 'violated' repeatedly.

Kosovo's claim to statehood, amongst many valid claims, should be primarily anchored on the 'moral argument' of widespread state-sponsored killings which made Serbia's continued claim to sovereignity over Kosovo an untenable position. Note that the US's declaration of independence, long before there was any modern-day int'l law or an int'l org like the UN was based primarily on the idea of UK's colonial, repressive policy.

But, speaking of int'l law: how come Serbia consistently claims coverage by int'l law over its Kosovo sovreginity claim, when this same law was repeatedly violated through the commission of unprecedented state-sponsored war crimes? What part of int'l law sanctions this kind of behavior?

So essentially only a minority voted for this, although the rules do not take into account those that abstained.

Interesting. Could you guys publish the list of the countries that voted and in what way?

I imagine the next phase will be about amandments etc. But Kosovo needs to feel better that this vote was not 97 or above, and the Serbian govt gets a symbolic victory mainly for domestic purposes, so hopefully things will cool down a bit and everyone will go their own way with their head high, knowing that they did everything they could on the issue.

THANK YOU SERBIA!
Now the entire EU is with Kosova, Romania and Slovakia just recognized our passports, this leaves only Cyprus and Spain out of 27 nations!

And start threatening EU with Russia, they are really scared :-) h
"If the European Union does not admit us, we will be forced to seek other solutions with Russia," said Sutonovac for "Le Figaro."

Look at the map, all EU and NATO states around you.

"I cannot help but ask myself if all this is worth it for the common Albanian who lives in Kosovo and I don’t mean the ones who post here on B92 of which most of them don’t even live in Kosovo."

I am amazed at how little Serbs know about happened in Kosova over the 97 years in Serbian hands. If you think that Albanians will accept slavery again on Serbian hands because investment might be delayed for 2 years, you have no clue about Albanians. Albanians have 'never' paid taxes and never expected much from the state for millenia, but today, as poor as they are, they are richer than ever. Hand out million dollar payments and only 10% will give up freedom for them. 'We have changed' means nothing to an Albania, we know very very well.

Economically, Serbs will cave first (like they did by electing Tadic) than Albanians. Albanians have EU and G8 on their side.

The reality is that Serbia has won the battle at the UN GA, but it is still too early for the champagne as ICJ advisory opinion is yet to come.
Let’s have a look concerning the vote in the UN GA: 77 PRO, 6+1 (Liberia) AGAINST, 74 ABSTAINED. Logical mathematics gives this result: 77 vs 81. But general rules that apply do not count the countries that abstain!!!
We all know that there were +- 17 countries that have voted PRO resolution even if they have already recognized our independence, that, just because that an opinion will hurt nobody.
Definitely the resolution is adopted and ICJ will have to come with an opinion. I will put here question that I have putted much earlier here in B-92 that is Serbia ready to accept whatever outcome from ICJ???
With the strong evidences that we have in favor of our definite split of the artificial creature so called Yugoslavia, I am truly convinced that, even thought only an opinion is to be given, we will at the end triumph, with the hope that even Serbia will accept the new reality and continue the path of prosperity and welfare because of the regional stability and prosperity.
I can only promise one thing that we Kosovars (including all communities) will continue our path towards building our newest state with the special focus on good relations with, first of all, our neighboring countries, including Serbia.

Keep fighting Serbia!!!! because as long as you fight for meaningless things you will be able to feed your nationalistic IX century apirations and dreams.

Just keep feeding the monster that is Serbian nationalism and you will end up where you always have "at war and alone".

Some radicals in Raska have probably already written and are singing songs about the "Nine Jeremic's" and Boris Tadic's latest soundtrack "Its better to live like a gulag then lose Kosovo"

pss - Your scenario is totally unrealistic. If the ICJ ruling goes ahead, then everything will be frozen and the development will not continue unaffected as you seem to think.

EULEX has not been deployed, other than in a different form under the UN, and the EU certainly has no right to give protectorate status.

You seem to be forgetting about the UN Security Council. Full deployment of EULEX cannot happen legally without the approval of the UNSC and Serbia itself. That's just how it stands.

Otherwise why do you think that the half measures are being adopted within Res. 1244 rather than full deployment? Because no matter how it is stretched or distorted, 1244 specifically and clearly states that Kosovo remains a province of Serbia.

Of course the best outcome for the Kosovo govt would be if the ICJ rules that the UDI was legal, but that has virtually no chance of happening (unless the ICJ is also now 'politicised').

Nobody is just going to wait around for the ruling - negotiations have to reopen.

Let's see what happens today - good luck Jeremic and Tadic.

pss,
your write beautiful fairy tales.

Another hurdle passed for Serbia today. I'm incredibly pleased with the outcome, and give most of the credit to the efforts of Vuk Jeremic. He professionally placed Serbia's problem as an international issue that is common to dozens and dozens of cases throughout the world. He came off as incredibly diplomatic, as opposed to certain US and EU leaders who made no bone about their intentions of undermining this initiative every step of the way, and will continue to obstruct a clear and objective debate.

But with only 6 states voting No (and I'm curious to see who beyond Albania and the US voted No), there certainly appears to be a momentum in which a clear majority backs Serbia, if not chooses to not get in its way.

Yes, this was partially marred by Portugal's recognition, but many of us here pretty much expected one or two more recognitions to squeak though, and I'm still not sure what Macedonia and Montenegro have planned. But the more Kosovo is placed under the scrutiny of international arbitration, and less as a plan in American colonialism, the better.

Well done Tadic.
Well done Jeremic.
Well done Serbia.

77 vs. 6...

well, that´s quite a clear result, I´d say.

to the Albanian who chose to sign with "Ronaldo Portugal":

you couldn´t find a better nick-name, right? instead of that you are offending the righteous portuguese poeple...

Patrik, you said "the member countries will debate the contents before sending it to ICJ". Well I certainly hope the Nay and Abstain voters will not be allowed to dictate any contents. They didn't want this to settle in a legal manner in the first place.

A discussion of Kosovo history will be great for Serbia because during Yugoslav times 1945-1991-Kosovo was always a part of Serbia. No matter how much autonomy Tito gave it to weaken Serbs he never made it a Republic equal to Serbia it was always part of Serbia. the UN always recognized it as part of Serbia. ALbanians always had voting rights and other rights.

Im Albanian and im glad that it went through. Now let the ICQ decide if is legal or not. Both parties should accept the decission. If no party accept the decission there is no reason to bring this case to ICQ at first place. Anyway,, whatever decission might be,, it will be fair and justice. Serbia and Kosova should accept it and sit down for a solution. Im afraid that ICQ based on facts that we all know will give the right to Albanians of Kosova.

In the mean time there will be little or know investment in Kosovo, especially not now when the world is waiting for an outcome from the ICJ, and joining world organizations will be Frozen, again until such time the ICJ gives its opinion.

I cannot help but ask myself if all this is worth it for the common Albanian who lives in Kosovo and I don’t mean the ones who post here on B92 of which most of them don’t even live in Kosovo.
(Canadian, 8 October 2008 20:23)

I was not glad at all that this nonsense initiative passed the UNGA meeting. I don't care about the result of this initiative. The one thing I care about is the time that will be wasted until we have the final word from the ICJ. And the result, not just because I am an Albanian but because my logic, referring to the facts, tells me so, will be on our favor (and this means in Serbian favor as well, knowing that Serbia cannot go towards EU and NATO if it does not recognize us). Being Kosovar Albanian was not easy from 1974 until 1998 (though I was born after 1974). For some reason, I support South Osetia and Abkhazia as well, just by knowing that they suffered like us. Don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to give you guys a lesson, cz these are well known facts, but I just wanna remind the Serbs that when the time comes to bring the facts on the table at the ICJ, we will have enough to say, sufficiently enough to win the case. Of course, you Serbians cannot agree with me (and with some other posters above) that your President and Foreign Minister spent your money to “buy” those 77 votes. I’m just supposing, not concluding anything. Time will tell if my, the Albanian people, or yours, the Serbian people, opinion was the righteous one.

Good luck to everyone.

Update: To those of you who always said Slovakia will never recognize Kosova passports, I warned you guys! Thank you Slovakia and Romania.

Tomorrow, the number of the democratic countries list to recognize Kosova will increase to at least 49, probably 50.

Greets (as usual) from Prishtina!

My dear Canadian, what are you talking about? From the 77 states, that voted in favor of the resolution, 17 of them have reconized Kosovo. So please, you must inform yourself better. Someone talked here about a crushing defeat. Well, 77 voted for the resolution, 6 against (seven, with Liberia) and 74 didnt vote. Well, the Asambly traditionaly votes with a far more greater majority in other issues. Its e Pirros victory for Serbia, Slovakia and Rumania accepted today our passports, Macedonia will tomorrow reckognize our independence. So, enjoy "your victory".

Hello,

The long path to redemption and vindication has begun! Serbia's win in having their initiative regarding Kosovo's illegal declaration of independance will be heard in the International Court of law. Before you say 'so what' the ruling isn't binding... either way this is a very important decision granted by the UN security council members for two reasons. One: it will slow the recognition by more countries and depending on the ruling that will come back from the ICJ, present recognitions may be revoked. Secondly, this decision shows that no one Super Power is greater than International Law. Stew on that USA. You should be ashamed of yourself for firstly aligning with a gov't in KOSOVO that you branded a terrorist organization (the KLA). When the court comes back with a decision ruling that Kosovo's declaration of independance was illegal you will be humiliated in front of the whole world along with your 'puppet/pon' allies (Germany, UK, and France etc. etc.)

Look, do not get me wrong, I love my country and my fellow Americans, BUT my country's government has really overstepped it's bounds in the past 15 yrs or so. The US had no business getting involved in what was essentially a civil war (I sometimes wonder how this country would have reacted if foreign governments had stuck their noses in our civil war). Anyway, I'm extremely satisfied that Serbia will get it's proverbial day in court and when the ICC votes that the UDI was illegal I can only hope this will bring all sides back to the bargaining table so a REAL and not forced resolution to the issue will be worked out.

Im Albanian and im glad that it went through. Now let the ICQ decide
(uli, 8 October 2008 19:21)

LOL, Uli, on ICQ it's merely us who can argue - and it has zero importance for the politicians what we say. What you mean is ICJ, International Court of Justice, not ICQ.

But, speaking of int'l law: how come Serbia consistently claims coverage by int'l law over its Kosovo sovreginity claim, when this same law was repeatedly violated through the commission of unprecedented state-sponsored war crimes? What part of int'l law sanctions this kind of behavior?

Tell it to Georgia....

I have a feeling the ICC will be in favor of Serbia. It's a lot easier to send the Serbia/Kosovo issue back to the bargaining table than to allow all other separatist situations (South Ossetia, Abhkazia, Transniestr, MILF in the southern Phillipines, the ETA in the Basque region of Spain, Nagorno-Karabakh and others) a distinct precedent to use for their independence ambitions (and don't give me the "unique case" BS, the West is not the end all, be all on this planet, to think so is to be beyond arrogant).

This not great news for any side in my openion, today we saw, 74 yes and 76 abstenate and 4 said no.

now the reason is think this is bad news for all: 74 that said yes only confirmed that they are happy with any country to ask for an openion of the icj and that is it! countries that have said yes have also said that they will still recognise Kosovo as this rulling does not have any effect in their decision.

So Serbia is trying to delay the membership of Kosovo in the UN nothing else. Even if Serbia wins the ICJ nothing is going to change Kosovo is Independant, before the ICJ rulling Montenegro and Macedonia will recognise Kosovo now where do you think this is leaving the situation.

Well I guess now everyone knows that at least a minimum of 77 countries will never recognize the Toy Republic of Kosovo.

And as for those who abstained, and there were many, (don’t fool yourselves in thinking that Abstaining is a vote in favor of Kosovo) these countries not including the one’s who were already arm wrestled in recognizing Kosovo, will not be doing any recognizing, any time soon, at least not until the ICJ gives its opinion in about 2 years or more, and if the ICJ rules in favor of Serbia which is the most likely outcome then hardly any of those fence sitting countries will recognize Kosovo, ever, in fact I suspect that at least half a dozen or more will withdraw their recognition if the ICJ rules in Serbia’s favor, I know Canada will, its been in the newspapers here in Canada,.. and If Canada withdraws their recognition then you have to know at least 4 or 5 more countries will probably do the same, probably most of the G8, which would be the final knock out blow to this thievery and restore international law once again.

In the mean time there will be little or know investment in Kosovo, especially not now when the world is waiting for an outcome from the ICJ, and joining world organizations will be Frozen, again until such time the ICJ gives its opinion.

I cannot help but ask myself if all this is worth it for the common Albanian who lives in Kosovo and I don’t mean the ones who post here on B92 of which most of them don’t even live in Kosovo.

What happened to all these EU
albanian cheer leaders?Abstention?Since they brag that kosovo UDI is irreversible why abstain?
Legally they haven't got aleg to stand on.What worries
me is that they might try another coup as they did with
Serbias application to international court about the legality of NATOs bombing on civilian targets in Serbia.

What ever I said, it would not much differ from the other posted comments in here. I would look back at proclaimed “victory” by some co-commentators; 77 out of 190 votes in favor to send the issue to the ICJ – are not the majority. Even they were the majority still the situation is not in favor to Serbia, because of few but very crucial reasons. Firstly, Mr. Jeremic and Co. was either unwilling or “uninformed” about Kosovo’s status in the former Yugoslavia. In my opinion, constitutional character of Kosovo as one of the former Yugoslavian unit should be taken as an asset in favor of independence.
Arguments shows that recently most relevant Int. factors have brought (after a long process) a plan that envisages a supervised Independence for Kosovo. Hereupon, it was a joint conclusion (legal) of the entire Democratic part of the World. Thus, it is a reality which should be taken into consideration at ICJ. I would not go through the long story that derived such a conclusion by Kosova people in accord with the rest of the democratic world.
At the end; I admire Mr. Jeremic’s courage in such an initiative, furthermore when Kosovo issue will be judged simultaneously with the leading Serbian politicians (Hague tribunal)accused for most heartless mistreatments done to the people of Kosova?!

News just in. Serbia wins the vote by 77 to 6. can anyone break down the votes - Yays, Nays, Abstentions??

Bravo Tadic & Jeremic.

I am really applauding very sober and nice (seriously!) writing from pss. It gives us some food for thougt, even if I don't agree with him/her on every point. Falemnderit!

Don't break out the champagne just yet. Now the member countries will debate the contents of the draft before a final version gets sent to the ICJ.

pss,

You may be one of the most realistic commentors here yet. I don't agree with everything you've said, but your long-term predictions may actually spell out. Nice to hear another moderate voice around here.

To those who question Serbia's legal sovereign rights as laid down in Resolution 1244:

Apart from the introductory summary which makes this very clear in itself, Article 10 of 1244 authorises "substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" [successor state = Serbia] for Kosovo. The Resolution therefore blocks independence.

Also, Resolution 1244 refers to international organisations being deployed in Kosovo "under United Nations auspices". This means that EULEX has to be approved by the UN Security Council.

Excellent outcome today, which shows that international law is not totally dead in the water.

Now let's expect lots of nations to try and affect the question put pefore the ICJ with various 'amendments'. Let them whistle.

77 to 6 eh?? My oh my, how the mighty have fallen :)). This is the best the albanian's colonial masters could muster?
At first I thought it may be the score of a Serbia vs. albania basketball game or something. To my surprise, it is actually the Serbia vs. US, justice versus power, result. Well done.
Cheers!!

I'm heartened by this vote. Despite how Albanians or Serbs see Kosovo this is an important issue that needs advice as Jeremic pointed out.

A good day for all of us.

To all honest people,

I am really glad that even under unseen pressure, blackmailing and arm-twisting, justice and logic prevailed. (Crushing 77 vs. 6 defeat).
That means that is still hope for this world. Driven by imperialistic torch and greed to low bottoms – world is heading to depression and most probable the big war because of poor decisions and moral faltering or world ex-leading nations and their slaves.

Again showing courage to confront mighty but mouse/hearted-cowboys – standing straight and proud – the justice and logic prevailed and give some hope that most of the democratic world is awakening.

I still can’t understand that someone can be against simple request for court/justice ruling. All those who were against it – some Albanians but still Serbian citizens with Serbia passports should look themselves in the eye and ask – Who is afraid of justice, court and law – those are on bad side, stealing and hiding something – simple wrongdoers. It looks only cowboys, ukis and some blind followers.

great news and very funny to see how the western media is in silence about this, if serbia had all the votes against then it would be big news in the western media
@the albanians who are pretending themselve as people from portugal.
grow up, just like sick people on the youtube and other sites who are pretending themselve as montenegrins with the goal of making hate between serbs/montenegrins although it is the same folk.

Credit should be given where it is due: Jeremic deserves praise for having framed the issue in a manner that is most likely to leverage the delay in the resolution of this issue as a kind of brake against further recognitions.

The focus now shifts to whether the Albanian separatists or the Serbian people will make better use of the intervening years that the ICJ will now take to deliberate the question.

If the Serbian government does little more than it is now doing to preserve the Serb presence in Kosovo, then the initiative for an ICJ ruling has been nothing but a convenient fig leaf covering a real priority of entering the EU regardless of what happens to Kosovo. The Albanians are expecting such a result, confident in their belief that the Belgrade regime installed with US backing is really just seeking a quiet way to leave Kosovo.

On the other hand, the more Kosovo-centric Serbian patriotic opposition parties have the opportunity now to demand that the Western-backed Serbian ruling coalition prove by actions that it really means what it says when it claims that Kosovo is still part of Serbia.

The time has come for action on the part of Belgrade, not just words. Whatever actions they do take from here on will speak louder than anything said in the past two years of debate.

I am personally convinced that Tadic and the majority if his governing coalition are unwilling to do anything real to save Kosovo or to even make it a priority.

To those of us fundamentally committed to keeping Kosovo, this ICJ referral helps our cause and now allows us to refocus the debate toward taking actions on the ground inside Kosovo to secure existing Serbian enclaves, return refugees and commence new projects to consolidate Serbian sovereignty. I don't think that the US or EU have the stomach or resources to ride this out as long as Serbian patriots are willing to do (forever if necessary).

The process of returning Serbs to Kosovo and rolling back the illegal separation is now ahead of us.

Onward! (And check to your side to see if Jeremic stays with us as we move forward from words to actions.)

Sincerely,

John Bosnitch
Belgrade
john.b@imcnews.com

This is great news for Serbia! If you like it or not, NOW there will be talking, negotiations, meetings etc. Some people here do not seem to realize that the law will win for sure. It matters not that Kosovo is recognised by 25% of all countries. Now it will be a story that will last forever. Kosovo will never be a real country.

I love it when all these albanian posters are trying to spin this as a non-event.

So, it's not important because only 77 countries supported Serbia? Ha! Only 48 have recognised Kosovo. If 77 is small and insignificant, then what is 48??

And the funniest of all is the idea that 77 is insignificant compared to SIX, yes 6, that supported Pristina.

Dear B92 staff, when censoring my post, try re-framing it, cz it makes no sense at all why I have quoted Canadian's post!
Allow me to clarify myself, and tell the Canadian poster that he cannot fool us being a Canadian, cz the word KNOW and NO are not the same, and a Canadian probably wouldn't make such a mistake!

That's it!

Why is it that so many albanain posters here ask the ICJ to consider what happened to Serbia in the last decade or so before the Kosovo war? When you try a thief (or any felon for that matter) do you look at his records and previous lawsuits as a means to determine the outcome of his present hearing???

Does this mean if someone has a history (several lawsuits) of robbing people, then he himself gets robbed by someone else... Does this mean he DESERVES to loose in court (in other words, to get robbed) because of his history of committing the crime to others? This is of course assuming that the people he robbed got justice and this person was punished.

I am not suggesting here that Serbia has a history of crime, though I admit we are not angels (great Serbian movie btw, if anyone saw it :P). All I want to point out is that THIS ICJ case is about the legality of Kosovo's UDI (i.e. its violation of UNSC 1244) and THAT'S ALL. Yes there were other secessionist movements in the region previously, however that is not the subject of the upcoming ICJ hearing (congrats to Vuk btw).

As for the outcome of this vote, I have to say I am a bit (pleasantly) surprised. So few against the initiative and so many abstained, this proves only that many of the nations that have recognized did so out of pressure/bullying from higher powers. The real diplomatic battle is on now, however I do have a gut feeling that the ICJ will not come up with a definitive ruling such as in favor or not. It is also uncertain how long this case will go on for. It may very well take 10 years or more as the 1st poster here mentions.

What we are missing here in these discussions is the REALITY.

Practically, these measures and even a possible Intl Court Ruling in favor of Serbia, will indeed slow down the recognision of Kosovo. So what? For how long will that be? 5-10 years? I think, Serbia here is underestimating the Kosovo Albanians' patience and resolve. They don't care.

There is no price, they are not willing to pay to remove themselves from serbian rule.
And now that they are closer than ever, their resolve is even greater.

Yes there might be some economic tough times there for a while, but Serbia knows very well K-Alb will never ever go back to live under a Serbian state. In fact serbian policies so far has made Kosovo able to survive under such conditions, as many Kosovars under serb regime immigrated and now live and work abroad especially in western countries, which gives them a means to survive these tough times.

Further the instability arasing from the status issue will force Western countries to help Kosovo even more.

Well, we should all know that whatever happens, recognize or not Kosovo, support serbs or albanians, There is NO turning back! Serbia lost Kosovo in 1999 and that's a FACT! United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria etc. they all have embassies in Prishtina. Do you thing they will close them if ICJ says "Independence is illegal?"

the first comment about this article (by pss) is still the most refreshingly rational comment here and i don't expect that to change (even though there are a few other good ones). people are too emotional about this. which is perhaps why more long-term thinking is needed. there probably won't be any quick solutions to this and serbs and albanians will have to live next to and hopefully with each other in the future. wishful thinking on both sides isn't going to change anything.

74 abstaining + 6 against= 80 votes not in favour of Serbia's resolution.
People normally abstain just not to say no.

If these 74 countries recognize Kosova it's fine for us.

My country, Albania should have voted in favour in my opinion: every member-country must have the right to address the ICJ.

Again, I repeat, to all the Albanians trying to believe that this is some sort of victory by playing mathmatical games - and I will use YOUR thesis on how to make the numbers add up.

There are 192 sovereign member states in the UN. 48 have recognised your independence and the rest have not. Some have said no, and some have abstained.

So, in the UN vote today, according to your logic, 77 were in support of Serbia, and 80 were against.

When it comes to recognising Kosovo as independent, according to YOUR logic, 48 are with you and 144 are against!!!!!

How can you call this a victory?

The following excerpt from Kate’s previous post struck me as disturbing:
Of course the best outcome for the Kosovo govt would be if the ICJ rules that the UDI was legal, but that has virtually no chance of happening (unless the ICJ is also now 'politicised').
By all means what Kate thinks is perhaps a majority held view among Serb commentators here and conceivably among half of Serbia’s population.
Now I am all for an ICJ decision to settle this issue once and for all (for bragging rights at least), but the irresponsible nature with such blatant remarks is revealing to say the least. Kate has a preconceived notion of the ICJ as being politicized when it doesn’t rule in their favor. For Christ’s sake they outright deny genocide taking place in Srebrenica even though the ICJ quite crisply declared it to be so and accused Serbia of not preventing it (that is a crime in itself, see Genocide Convention).
Now for Kate to unashamedly say that any decision that does not rule positively for Serbia would be considered “political” is just a disappointment in its own right. The unbelievable inability to compromise and come to a rational conclusion that does not contradict with their perceived intentions (Serbs want the ICJ to convey its opinion on whether Kosovo’s independence is legal right?) disrespectable and just confirms the uncooperative nature of Serbia with international institutions.

For the CORRECT INFORMATION:
Romania DID NOT recognize kosovo passports. They will not be used for entering the country, just for identification - Romanian Minister of External Affairs, oficial statements.
Romania voted YES for Serbia's resolution.

I am not really familiar with the workings of the ICJ. But if this court works like the supreme court in the US, and there are a number of judges, then I would guess an opinion would be submitted by the majority that decide to vote one way.

But that's where I want to know more about the specifics, because we are talking about only an opinion, and in the end even the minority opinion will be respected if that's how this thing works.

If I am correct in my assumption, then I will predict that the majority opinion will be that this is a Unique Case, no precedent, and due to the historical abuses of international law by Serbia Kosovo has a right to self-determination. The minority opinion will be that it sets a precedent and probably not favorable to the self-determination rule.

If there is a unanimous decision required, then with amendments and other legal jargon, the opinion will be very vague and will allow both sides to claim victory.

The reason for this is because the world wants Kosovo independent, but at the same time it wants Serbia in the EU and prospering so that the Balkans stabilize. There's no way that the opinion will be anything that can cause a big rift in any way.

In the end, both sides will say we have the opinion that we wanted I guess.

Unfortunately this will not solve anything because Serbia needs to come to terms with Kosovo for the region to have a peaceful, stabilizing and prospering future.

Let's hope that that will happen, but yes it will take time. You cannot expect to just shove it down the Serbia's throat but slowly things will calm as with Serbia accepting EULEX and other EU measures.

"They will not be used for entering the country, just for identification "

:) Splitting hairs? If they enter Romania with different passports, why use the Kosova ones for identification? And why announce it the same day they voted? Greece has recognized the passports but voted NO by the way

As Albanian I'd like to congratulate Serbia on their diplomatic effort trying to pass the Kosovo independence case to the ICJ.
Now let's see how the court will proceed and try to interpret the international law.
ICJ decision (pro independence or against independence) or denial of making of a decision, whatever the outcome is kind opens "Pandora's box" too in the same context that the UDI of Kosovo does. By asking the World Court even for an "nonbinding opinion" Serbia is setting the dangerous precendent of accepting that the will of the people for independence is decided by the "world goverment" (aka ICJ).

Let's see what the opinion of the ICJ will be. Will apply the principles of equality among nations, thus uphelding Kosovo's declaration of independance as legal (see the cases of independences of African nations from colonial rule) or will apply the principles of the sanctity of the borders of a state - no matter how this state treats its own citizens, thus invalidating every UDI.
Even worse it will be the "no opinon at all" decision for lack of juristiction, which it will continue the current status quo, where independence of Kosovo will be recognized by some states, ignored as a problem by some others and non recognized at all by others.
Funny part is, that whatever the decision will be, none of Serbia or Kosovo will be binding by the court's opinion on their decisions.
In case of pro Kosovo's decision, Serbia will cite that the opinion is "non binding", maybe declare the same court that it asked the opinion from as "biased" or "politised".
In case of pro- Serbia's decision, Kosovo will cite that the its independence is matter of the will of the people who live there and not of some burocratic judge sitting in a chair in NYC.

An important victory has been achieved,it is the first step toward the reintegration of this part of Southern Serbia under our control,but make no mistake the fight has just begun,probably it will take decades till we will see the Serbian flag over Pristina and the Pastrik mountain.
I quote Njegos:"Neka borba bude neprestana do istrage njihove ili nase!"

The news in "balkaninsight",

are more precise.

Summary:

1) Indeed, it was a very big victory from Serbian point of view, because not just the GA approved the resolution to seek the ICJ, but almost as importantly, they did throw out the last-minute British motion.

As it stands:

"the UN General Assembly ruled out a suggestion by Britain to give Kosovo authorities the chance to have their say at the World Court."

An "undemocratic" as it sounds, it was IMO a correct decision for two reasons:

a) /lesser/: the current "authorities" in Kosovo have blood all over their hands.
b) /major/: that would mean implicit recognition of Kosovo by UN.


As expected, both Albania and USA were opposing. Who are the other four? Most likely, Turkey. Other three?

Interesting fact: UK found a very unusual "excuse" to abstain:

"John Sawyers, the British ambassador to the UN, said after the vote that his country abstained from voting because it supports Kosovo's independence".

This shows all. I rather prefer Albania to UK. At least their stance was clear. The "I abstain because I am against it" is a coward move. Congratulations to UK to be a coward. If you mean it seriously, than do it.

Instead, they submit a last-minute motion, after it is thrown out, they cowardly walk away.

This is a note to both Serb and Albanian gang: here are your past, current and future "supporters". IMO, that was pathetic, but tell me if I am not right.

2) Romania and Slovakia INDEED accept Kosovo passports!

What is odd: even Koha Ditore does not know about it, no news, so really it looked like an other "duck" - but it is not. Apologies. But to add some criticism to the people at balkaninsight - isn't Kosovo travel document in red color, with the security chip? Because than the picture is completely wrong. Why not report it right?

My comment: as far as I know, Russia does accept the passport. USA, too. Getting a visa is an other sad story. Basically a good decision, I am strongly against any visa regime. Let the police catch the bad guys. The ones who are really bad, have perfect Swiss passports anyway.

mihai,

The Slovakian Goverment has issued a similuar statement, the passports will not be valid to lawfuly entry to Slovakia but can be used for legal identification. Amazing how the Albanins twist these stories to suit themselves.

And as for the writer who accused me of not being Canadian because I made a typo, writing Know instead of "No", you make me Laugh! I am All Canadian buddy, Hockey runs in my veins. And finally for the writer who claims I should get my facts straight that in actually 17 of the 77 YES votes for Serbia were EU Countries, I suggest that it is YOU who needs to get your facts straight, that in fact 16 EU states abstained from voting and only 6 EU countries who have recognized Kosovo have voted yes, this not including the 5 Eu Countries that refuse to recognize Kosovo and voted yes too! So in fact only 11 voted yes, and 16 abstained.

Here is the complete list of countries and their stands :

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/ga10764.doc.htm

The United States and Albania voted against the adoption of the resolution.
They were joined by the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.

I like how our adversaries are trying to joggle numbers around. All Serbia needed is actually 7 countries to win this resolution. Sense their was only 6 NO votes. This was not popularity vote. It was simple majority YES or NO vote to send the resolution to ICJ. How many voted YES or NO has no binding what so ever on ICJ outcome. But if you look above the countries that voted NO, looks like Bushes “ coalition of the willing” part two, when he went to war in Iraq. “Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.” Now if this is not funny I don’t know what is. Is this all they could muster.

New York Times (commenting on UN GA decision to review Kosovo 'independence'

:
" The case of Kosovo’s independence will be particularly difficult. While international law recognizes certain formal steps toward independence by former colonies in places like Africa or Latin America, there are no similar guidelines for secession in more established regions like Europe, said Nicolas Burniat, a lawyer who worked for the court for six years and is now with Human Rights First, a nonprofit group that works for human rights."

A good start for the preparation of the Serbian legal
argument?

Let's discuss something else besides what UN will do about Kosovo which is nothing, Some countries just bypassed the UN and gave a country independence and expected Serbia to say sure no problem take Kosovo. Now you have a EULEX Corp with no money, the world economy is in the toliet. That big donor conference probably won't be able to come up with the money it promised. MP in Kosovo Parliment wanted there own cars and a secretary and talking about use the donor funds wisely. LOL, so please let's talk about the world economy and put this foolishness about who support the resolution who had 17 that recognized Kosovo voted for it please folks wake and get a life, a job and move forward.

The draft resolution on the request for an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on whether the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo is in accordance with international law (document A/63/L.2) was adopted by a recorded vote of 77 in favour to 6 against, with 74 abstentions, as follows:

In favour (77):

Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Fiji, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Timor-Leste, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against (6):

Albania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, United States.

Abstain (74):

Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, REP OF Moldova, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Yemen.

Absent (34):

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Venezuela.

Not counted (1):

Liberia

Congratulations to the Serbian Goverbnment. A well deserved victory.

This can be spun in all sorts of ways, but the fact remains that the decision has been made to move the issue to the ICJ. That is all that really matters at this point. The GA resolution, no matter how narrow the margin of victory (after all, a law is still a law no matter how narrowly it is passed in parliament), clearly indicates that in the eyes of the world's states Kosovo's independence is, at best, questionable.

As for the argument that 17 states that have recognised voted in favour, this is wrong. By my calculation, it is actually a very small number - notably, Iceland, Liechenstein, Norway and Costa Rica. It is certainly not the 17 that someone here was arguing.

In any case, if I were in Pristina I would be very worried about the high number of abstentions. The decision to abstain was made in almost every case out of respect for the ICJ, and the wish not to be seen to be trying to impede international law. Under these circumstances, it hardly seems likely that these countries would then choose to ignore the findings of the Court if it rules against independence. This would suggest that there will be a lot of retractions, and a lot of pressure for new talks if it does come out against the UDI.

Of course, if it rules in favour then the issue will be settled. Serbia has said as much, on a number of occasions. The onyl problem then, and this was hinted at yesterday by Britain, there is a danger that any decision on Kosovo could then be 'selectively' read by other secessionist groups elsewhere. In this sense, I think that Kosovo might find itself under a lot of pressure from the EU to do a deal with Serbia before the ruling. In this sense, I think that Serbia's position is now actually rather strogn either way.

Of course, if Kosovo decides not to go back to talks it will not lose all support if the ICJ rules against. The USA, Albanian, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Nauru all voted against the resolution!

@ Art - please try reading Kate's comment again. You have clearly not understood her point.

"Against (6):

Albania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, United States."

It is good to see that the world has not completely lost its mind with regards to international law and that America is alone on this one (aside from some dependencies/ex-colonies and a pet, as per the list against). I wish this sort of thing would happen more often to show how deconstructive the US is capable of being.

For Christ’s sake they outright deny genocide taking place in Srebrenica even though the ICJ quite crisply declared it to be so and accused Serbia of not preventing it (that is a crime in itself, see Genocide Convention).
(Art, 9 October 2008 01:06)

i think there is a lot of confusion about the icj ruling in the case bosnia vs serbia, especially about srebrenica. icj did not investigate the srebrenica case. it simply considered the ruling of the other court - icty - valid and declared that serbia did not act to prevent what had happened there. this implies that all other countries that failed to act to prevent this are equally responsible. accordingly, nato countries, and the netherlands more than any other country, are not any more or less guilty than serbia, but serbia was the only country mentioned because it was a case against that country.

In case of pro Kosovo's decision, Serbia will cite that the opinion is "non binding", maybe declare the same court that it asked the opinion from as "biased" or "politised".
In case of pro- Serbia's decision, Kosovo will cite that the its independence is matter of the will of the people who live there and not of some burocratic judge sitting in a chair in NYC.
(Niko, 9 October 2008 05:28)

Niko, the importance of this is very different.

For bush: this is a diplomatic disaster. Good riddance of him soon, may he have a long term one day. This is important for all of us because he is a big piece of failure both politically and economically. IMO, he is also a criminal, hope one day there will be a court for him.

For Kosovo: regardless, where is our stance, we can agree, their leaders did a very poor job. We do not agree, but I say, these leaders have a lot of black-market money and a lot of blood on their hands. We probably agree: they have to go. There are much better and smarter people in Kosovo. I mean here intellectuals and professionals. Coincidently, they are more fit to settle issues with Serbia Proper, too. So it's a good thing essentially, even if you feel bitter.

For Serbia: very positive outcome, but it's not a done deal yet. hope more intellectuals and professionals will come on board. Good message for $$$ to come, but a little warning to both Serbia and Kosmet: don't sell your firstborns to the highest bidders to soon, like it happened all over East Europe. Be the bidders from USA or Russia or EU.

For the rest of the world: thanks to position your foot on bush's backside.

To Ataman,
I am not quite sure how the passing of this resolution that Serbia asked will "get rid" of Bush. His mandate as President of USA is expiring.
Can you please elaborate?

Also, I am not sure if this is diplomatic disaster for Bush or Serbia itself by judging who actually backed Serbia. I would have been very reserved on calling this victory after being backed by some countries with the worst records on human rights (like North Korea, Sudan and Iran), while the majority of democratic countries choose to abstain (read -have no opinion at all) or not vote at all for that matter.

As per your beleives that there are intellectuals in Kosovo who will prefere to settle the issues will Serbia instead of independence, allow me to correct you. You are wrong! With the exeption of few uninfluential K-Albanians yugonostalgics who there own family members wouldn't vote for them, all intelectuals and politicians in Kosovo support full independence from Serbia.
That's the reality.

Slovak government didn't recognize kosovo passeports, I know nothing about it. Those are just Thaci's lies.

It is good to see that the world has not completely lost its mind with regards to international law and that America is alone on this one (aside from some dependencies/ex-colonies and a pet, as per the list against). I wish this sort of thing would happen more often to show how deconstructive the US is capable of being.
(Peter Sudyka, 9 October 2008 11:35)

P
eter as that Chinese proverb says "Beware of what you wish for".

I believe you are Polish ..... it is enough for me as an American to remind you that there will always be a Russia for you to rely on if US, seems so destructive. One must agree with Donald Rumsfeld when he said "Old Europe". Twisted and unreliable. Unbelivable.

So you think Serbia's support is small Berkely (No 15) So what would you call Kososvo's support- only 6 including their American masters and Albania!!!

Those voting in favour are hardly the irrelevant or the mad: Egypt, Norway, Brazil, South Africa. There is considerable unhappiness within the group of developing countries (some of whom aspire to Security council seats) at the way US/UK/France have behaved, esp in relation to Israel,Georgia Iraq et al. There are many who are distressed at the rush to welcome Thaci and his wannabee democrats to the table and there is even more unease at the manner Georgia and Ukraine are being lured towards NATO, esp after the recent stupidity of arming Georgia and expecting a man like Sakishvilli to act responsibly.
The international community really does hope Serbia can strengthen its economy, create stability and show it can move on by its own efforts. The ICJ could well rule in Serbia's favour and many countries would breathe a huge sigh of relief if this should happen.

Those voting in favour are hardly the irrelevant or the mad: Egypt, Norway, Brazil, South Africa. There is considerable unhappiness within the group of developing countries (some of whom aspire to Security council seats) at the way US/UK/France have behaved, esp in relation to Israel,Georgia Iraq et al. There are many who are distressed at the rush to welcome Thaci and his wannabee democrats to the table and there is even more unease at the manner Georgia and Ukraine are being lured towards NATO, esp after the recent stupidity of arming Georgia and expecting a man like Sakishvilli to act responsibly.
The international community really does hope Serbia can strengthen its economy, create stability and show it can move on by its own efforts. The ICJ could well rule in Serbia's favour and many countries would breathe a huge sigh of relief if this should happen.

For his part, however, the representative of Albania “respectfully disagreed”, saying that today’s activities were an attempt--“logistically legal, but in essence, manipulative”--to stall the process of Kosovo’s recognition, with the intention of causing detrimental effects on the ground. As one of the six countries to vote against the resolution, Albania believed the Balkans deserved to channel its energies towards building a common future for the prosperity of all. “Old stereotypes of getting even are outdated–-everywhere”, he added.

In favour: Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Fiji, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Timor-Leste, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.



Against: Albania, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, United States.



Abstain: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, REP OF Moldova, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Yemen.



Absent: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Venezuela.