EU: Kosovo's statehood 'irreversible'

PRISTINA, Kosovo, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Although five members of the European Union oppose Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence, the country's new status is "irreversible," EU officials said.

Spain, Romania and Cyprus will join Serbia and Russia in anti-Kosovo depositions in a United Nations court case from Dec. 1 through Dec. 11 at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the EU Observer reported. Slovakia and Greece also declined to recognize Kosovo's independence.

The hearings are the result of a legal challenge brought by Serbia, which continues to object to the secession of its former province. Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States will make statements in favor of Kosovo's independence.

Serbia sponsored by-elections in Serb-controlled parts of Kosovo in what an EU report characterized as an attempt to undermine Pristina's authority.

The ruling in the court case will have only an advisory force and will not influence Kosovo's bid to get a seat in the United Nations, the Observer said.