Kosovo ready for talks with Serbia after UN resolution

Kosovo is ready to talk with Serbia, welcoming a UN resolution Thursday recognising a ruling that its declaration of independence in 2008 did not violate international law. Earlier, commenting on a draft of the resolution, Serbia had said it was ready for dialogue.

Reuters

"The battle is won," Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni told local public radio on Friday. "Definitively, it is very good news for Kosovo to have a UN resolution which respects and adopts the opinion of the ICJ [International Court of Justice].”

The ICJ issued a non-binding opinion in July that the independence declaration did not violate international law.

On Thursday the UN General Assembly passed a resolution recognising the opinion, and calling for EU-mediated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and Serbia has yet to recognise it as its own country, though 70 others have, including the US and most of the EU.