Serbia seeks backing in international campaign against Kosovo independence

Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic, who will be in New York on January 29 2009 for talks with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and other top UN officials, has sent letters to about 80 countries asking them to write to the International Court of Justice stating their rejection of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

At the UN, Jeremic will also meet the permanent representatives of a number of countries, Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.

It was expected that at his meeting with the Secretary-General, Jeremic would raise the issue of the newly-formed Kosovo Security Force, a move that Serbia rejects as an unacceptable military force and as tantamount to the "remilitarisation" of Kosovo.

In 2008, Serbia, from which Kosovo unilaterally broke away on February 17 2008, won UN General Assembly backing for a resolution asking the International Court of Justice for its opinion on the validity or otherwise of Kosovo independence.

Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti reported that Jeremic's letter told recipients: "I would kindly ask you to consider submitting a written statement to the Court of Justice expressing your country's official position on this matter of paramount importance by April 17 2009, at the latest".

The ICJ's ruling would "establish a powerful premise with far-reaching ramifications for the UN system," Jeremic said in the letter.

"The outcome will: either strongly discourage other separatist movements from attempts at secession, or will bring a result that could encourage them to act similarly," he said.

The "attempt at secession by the Albanian authorities is a clear violation of the UN Charter that guarantees sovereignty and territorial integrity to all internationally recognised states, including Serbia," Jeremic said.

The newspaper said that Spain and Russia had confirmed officially that their legal teams were preparing statements for the ICJ, while Venezuela and Cyprus were also about to follow suit.