The lawsuit against Serbia for genocide by Kosovo could be successful, expert say

Akri Çipa in Euronews Albania studio

 Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Kosovo is preparing to sue Serbia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide committed against Albanians during the recent war.

This step has been well received by the citizens of the country, but not only.

International relations specialist, Akri Çipa, said to Euronews Albania that this move shows that Kosovo aims to create a new moment with Serbia in relation to the past.

"It is a new moment in Kosovo's relations with Serbia in relation to the past. Historically in Kosovo, since the war of the '90s, there have been attempts to raise genocide to a higher legal stage," he said.

Çipa said that this is not an easy initiative for Kosovo as there are some difficulties in the legal sense because it is not part of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

"The new government of Mr. Kurti will aim to raise a genuine legal issue, he will try to bring this issue to the ICJ, but at first there are some difficulties that arise in the legal sense because Kosovo is not part of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Because Kosovo has a pending relationship with the UN, on which the International Court of Justice acts and then it must be taken into account to raise and confirm the issue of genocide," he said.

He says that the Kosovo team that will file a lawsuit against Serbia must be well-prepared in the legal, historical and political fields.

"I think that the team of Mr. Kurti is aiming to raise the issue from Kosovo itself, there is a theory that can be created based on previous precedents in the Balkan wars, on the experience of Bosnia where genocide was tried, but also on the effort of Croatia, which had a negative experience. The team must be strong legally and historically," he said.

"I think that this success depends a lot on the desire and cooperation with the opposition."

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