The top UN court gave its backing yesterday to Kosovo's 2008 independence declaration, saying it conformed to international law despite protests by Serbia that it would never recognise the move.

The non-binding verdict was greeted with euphoria among Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian population who hooted car, horns in delight while their president said it removed the last vestiges of doubt over independence.

But Serbian President Boris Tadic said Serbia would never recognise Kosovo's independence, while his foreign minister appealed to the minority Serb community concentrated in the north of Kosovo to remain calm.

"Serbia, of course, will never recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo because it believes that unilateral, ethnically-motivated secession is not in accordance with the principles of the United Nations," Mr Tadic said.

The US welcomed the move, while Serb ally Russia said its stance against Kosovo's self-declared independence would not change.

The UN, for its part, warned against "provocative" actions after the verdict.

"By 10 votes to four, (the court) is of the opinion that the declaration of independence of Kosovo adopted on February 17, 2008 did not violate international law," ICJ president Hisashi Owada earlier told a crowded courtroom in The Hague.

"General international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence."

One dissenting judge, however, believed his colleagues had erred and said that Kosovo's declaration was in fact "unlawful and invalid".

Landlocked Kosovo, with its two million inhabitants - 90 per cent of them ethnic Albanians - unilaterally declared independence from Serbia after UN-brokered negotiations to resolve its future status failed.

Kosovo had effectively been a UN protectorate since a 1998-99 war between separatist Kosovo Albanians and Serbian security forces which ended with a Nato air campaign against Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's regime.

Serbia has always regarded Kosovo as its southern province - a point it reiterated after yesterday's verdict.