The International Court of Justice announcement on July 22 2010 that it saw Kosovo’s February 2008 unilateral declaration of independence as not out of line with international law left the diplomatic battle lines just where they were before, with Pristina calling for more recognitions of Kosovo as independent and Serbia and its camp vowing never to recognise Kosovo as independent.
 
Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu said that the opinion of the ICJ (in a 10-4 vote) that the independence declaration was not illegal in international law cleared away any doubts about Kosovo’s independence.
 
"The decision finally removes all doubts that countries which still do not recognise the republic of Kosovo could have," Sejdiu said.
 
He also urged Serbian president Boris Tadic to change his attitude towards Kosovo, the BBC said.
 
Kosovo deputy prime minister Hajredin Kuqi, quoted by Serbian news website B92, said that the ICJ announcement confirmed the rightness of the declaration of independence.
 
Kosovo foreign minister Skender Hyseni said of the ICJ announcement: "It is a great day for Kosovo. My message to Serbia is ‘come and talk to us’".
 
The Voice of America reported the US state department as hailing the decision, saying it is now time for the region "to unite behind a common future."
 
"The ICJ ruling strongly asserts that Kosovo's declaration of independence is legal, a judgment we support. Now it is time for Europe to unite behind a common future," state department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
 
Serbian news agency Beta quoted Tadic as saying that the ICJ opinion, which is not binding, was "difficult for Serbia", but that the country would continue to defend its territorial integrity.
 
"Serbia will never recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo," Tadic said.
 
Defence of Serbia’s territorial integrity, Tadic emphasised, would be done exclusively using political means.
 
"It is clear that the court was not ruling on the right to secession, but that it decided to debate only the technical content of the declaration of independence. The court avoided to rule on the essential issue and decided to let the top UN organ debate that, and all the political implications," Tadic said.
 
Radio Srbija reported Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko as saying that the ICJ opinion would have no influence on Moscow.
 
"We believe the solution of the (Kosovo) issue is only possible through continued negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, based on UN Resolution 1244," Nesterenko said.
 
He said that the ICJ had confirmed the validity of that international legal foundation for the resolving of the status of Kosovo.
 
The court had taken a position only on the declaration of independence itself, while distancing itself from commenting on Kosovo’s right to secede from Serbia, Nesterenko said.
 
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for dialogue between all sides in the wake of the ICJ advisory opinion, the UN News Service said.
 
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban "strongly encourages the parties to engage in a constructive dialogue… [and] urges all sides to avoid any steps that could be seen as provocative and derail the dialogue."
 
The statement added that Ban would forward the opinion to the General Assembly, which will then determine how to proceed.