UN court approves Kosovo's declaration of independence

Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia did not run counter to the norms of international law, the president of the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Thursday, RIA Novosti reports.

Serbia had claimed that Kosovo's secession violated its territorial integrity.

Kosovo's independence was backed by the U.S. and a large number of EU members, but Russia has always been opposed to it.

ICJ president Hisashi Owada said in the non-binding ruling that international law "contains no applicable prohibition" of Kosovo's declaration of independence and that the court had ruled that "the declaration of independence on 17 February 2008 did not violate general international law."