The position of Russia with regard to the declaration of independence of Kosovo

The position of Russia with regard to the declaration of independence of Kosovo

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 3
I. Historical Overview: From the Yugoslav Wars to Kosovo 's Declaration of Independence 4
1.1. The break-up of Yugoslavia 4
1.2. Kosovo’s overall situation 5
II. Legal Framework 5
2.1. Serbia’s reaction to Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence 5
2.2. Two theories of state recognition 6
2.3. Kosovo and statehood criteria 6
2.4. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (UNSCR1244) 7
2.4. Advisory Opinion of International Court of Justice from July 22, 2010 7
III. Response of the International Community 8
IV. Russia’s Position 9
CONCLUSION 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY 15
Appendix 1. Kosovo 's ethnic map 17
Appendix 2. Map of states that have recognized Kosovo’s independence 18
Appendix 3. Map of the EU member states that have recognized Kosovo’s independence 19
Appendix 4. Map of Georgia 20

INTRODUCTION

On 17 February 2008, after many years of struggle, the Kosovo Assembly adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Serbian National Assembly declared Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence to be null and void, and contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, Security Council Resolution 1244, and the norms of international law.1 However, on 22 July 2010, the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stipulated that the adoption of such declaration did not violate any applicable rule of international law.2 Nevertheless, the Court made no statements concerning Kosovo’s statehood and its recognition by third states.
Kosovo’s declaration of independence met a mixed international response. As of April 12, 2012, 89 states have recognized Kosovo’s independence3, while a number of states maintain that Kosovo’s declaration of independence is illegal. Most significantly, while the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) are willing to provide Kosovo its

Bibliography: 1. Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion (International Court of Justice, July 22, 2010), available at http://www.icj-cij.org. 2. U.N. SCOR, 63d Sess., 5839th mtg. at 4–5, U.N. Doc. S/PV.5839 (Feb. 18, 2008) [hereinafter Security Council Meeting on Feb. 18, 2008]. 5. Kosovo Declaration of Independence (2008), available at http://www.assembly-kosova.org/common/docs/Dek_Pav_e.pdf. 6. Aust, Anthony. Handbook of International Law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2010. 7 8. Vickers, Miranda. Between Serb and Albanian: a History of Kosovo, Columbia University Press, 1998. 9. Almqvist, Jessica (2009): “The Politics of Recognition, Kosovo and International Law”, Working Paper 14/2009, Real Instituto Elcanto, available at http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org. 10. Antonenko, Oksana (2007): “Indépendence du Kosovo: pourquoi la Russie s’oppose-t-elle?”, Russie.Nei.Visions, vol.21, July 2007, available at http://www.ifri.org/downloads/ifri_kosovo_antonenko_FRA_july07.pdf 11 12. Christakis, Theodore (2011): “The ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo: Has International Law something to say about Secession?”, Leiden Journal of International Law, 2011 (1), vol. 24, pp. 73-86. 13. Cutts, Noelle M. Shanahan (2008): “Enemies Through the Gates: Russian Violations of International Law in the Georgia/Abkhazia Conflict”, Case Western reserve Journal of International Law, 2008, vol. 40, p.287. 14. Dmitry Medvedev, “Why I had to recognize Georgia’s breakaway regions”, Financial Times (August 26, 2008), available at http://www.thehandstand.org/archive//lateautumn2008/articles/georgia.htm 15 18. Schäffer, Sebastian (2009): “The Kosovo precedent – directly applicable to Abkhazia and South Ossetia”, Caucasian Review of International Affairs, vol. 3(1), 2009, pp.108-110. 19. Surroi, Veton (2011): “The independent Kosovo and the new constellation in the Balkans”, April 2011, available at http://www.ceri-sciences-po.org. 20. Tarţa, Ancuţa-Gabriela (2009): “Independent Kosovo. An attempt of neorealist view”, Romanian Review of International Studies, I, 1, 2009, available at http://dsi.institute.ubbcluj.ro/docs/revista/26_ro.pdf 21 22. Vidmar, Jure (2009): “International Legal Responses to Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence”, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 2009, vol. 42(3), pp. 779–851. 23. Weller, Marc (2008): “Negotiating the final status of Kosovo”, Chaillot Paper, Institute for Security Studies, 2008, N°114, available at http://www.iss.europa.eu. 24. Woehrel, Steven (2012): “Serbia: Current Issues and U.S.”, CRS Repost for Congress, Congressional Research Service, February 2012, available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS22601.pdf 25