BELGRADE (AFP) -- Serbia expects the top UN court to deem Kosovo's declaration of independence illegal, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in an interview.

""I expect the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide during 2010 and to judge unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo illegal,"" Jeremic told state-run Tanjug news agency.
In October, the UN General Assembly approved Serbia's resolution to seek a ruling from The Hague-based court on the legality of Kosovo's independence, declared unilaterally by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders on February 17.
Jeremic said the first hearing before the ICJ would be held in April, while the second one was scheduled for December 2009.
""The court's decision will be a precedent as all future issues related to secession which might be put before the ICJ would have to be based on the court's decision in the Kosovo case,"" Jeremic said.
The ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations which is based in The Hague, rules on disputes between sovereign states.
More than 50 countries, including the U.S. and most European Union members, have already recognized Kosovo as an independent state following its unilateral secession from Serbia on February 17.
Serbia, backed by Russia, still considers Kosovo as one of its provinces and fiercely opposes its independence. But it has had no control over the territory since the end of 1998-1999 conflict when a UN mission took over the administration.