The International Court of Justice seems to have done its utmost to sit on the fence over the legality of Kosovo’s secession from Yugoslavia. It has ruled that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was legal, but it has not pronounced on the legality of the secession as such. This feels to me like an evasion. Common sense and the norms of free speech suggest that, of course, they are allowed to proclaim their independence. The question is whether the rest of us should recognise an independent Kosovo as a legal entity. Read more