French ambassador: Independence not illegal

France's ambassador to Serbia said that he doubts that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will agree with Serbia that "Kosovo’s independence" is illegal. Jean Francois Terral said that Serbia and Kosovo must reach an agreement regarding their relations in order to avoid endangering stability in the region. French ambassador: Independence not illegal As far as the ICJ process is concerned, Terral said that it should be noted that the law should correlate closely with reality. “Laws are not abstract. The recognition of a country is a matter of the sovereignty of the country (that recognizes it). France recognized Kosovo’s independence and I cannot imagine a step backwards. Everyone will tell you the same thing,” Terral said. He said that he expects that the ICJ’s opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s unilaterally proclaimed independence will be balanced and that it will begin a new chapter. “We will have to ask ourselves what kind of relations we should have towards everything, taking into consideration that from our point-of-view, Kosovo and Serbia will have to reach an agreement in order to regulate their relations in a way that does not represent a problem in the region, starting with Serbia,” he said. “I will repeat what President Sarkozy said in Paris to President Tadic—that the recognition of Kosovo will not be a condition for Serbia’s EU association. But I repeat, there will have to be an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia,” the French ambassador said. Jean Francois Terral (FoNet archive)

French ambassador: Independence not illegal

As far as the ICJ process is concerned, Terral said that it should be noted that the law should correlate closely with reality.

“Laws are not abstract. The recognition of a country is a matter of the sovereignty of the country (that recognizes it). France recognized Kosovo’s independence and I cannot imagine a step backwards. Everyone will tell you the same thing,” Terral said.

He said that he expects that the ICJ’s opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s unilaterally proclaimed independence will be balanced and that it will begin a new chapter.

“We will have to ask ourselves what kind of relations we should have towards everything, taking into consideration that from our point-of-view, Kosovo and Serbia will have to reach an agreement in order to regulate their relations in a way that does not represent a problem in the region, starting with Serbia,” he said.

“I will repeat what President Sarkozy said in Paris to President Tadić—that the recognition of Kosovo will not be a condition for Serbia’s EU association. But I repeat, there will have to be an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia,” the French ambassador said.