这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道节目。
In February of two thousand eight, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Now the top United Nations court says Kosovo's declaration was legal. Hisashi Owada, president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, read the opinion.
2008年2月，科索沃宣布脱离塞尔维亚独立。目前，联合国最高法院表示，科索沃的声明是合法的。海牙国际法院院长小和田恒宣读了法院意见。
HISASHI OWADA: "The court considers that general international law contains no applicable prohibition on declarations of independence."
小和田恒：“法院认为，现行国际法中没有任何适用于宣布独立的禁止性条款。”
Kosovo's Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni called the ruling on Thursday great news, and not just for Kosovo.
科索沃外长斯肯德·希塞尼称周四的裁决是一个“巨大的好消息”，这并不仅仅是对科索沃而言。
SKENDER HYSENI: "This is a great news for the peace and stability in the region of western Balkans. This is a great news for Europe."
希塞尼：“这对西巴尔干地区的和平与稳定来说是个好消息，对欧洲而言也是如此。”
Serbia had asked the court for its opinion. Now Serbia is sending diplomats to fifty-five countries. Their job: try to block efforts by Kosovo to gain further recognition.
塞尔维亚质疑法院的裁决。目前塞尔维亚正向55个国家派出外交官。他们的任务是试图阻止科索沃获得进一步认可的努力。
Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic says the ruling will not change his country's position.
塞尔维亚外长武克·耶雷米奇表示，这一裁决不会改变塞尔维亚的立场。
VUK JEREMIC: "Serbia will never under any circumstances recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of the so-called Republic of Kosovo."
耶雷米奇：“在任何情况下，塞尔维亚都将永远不会承认科索沃单方面宣布独立。”
Ian Bancroft is the co-founder of TransConflict, a humanitarian organization working in the western Balkans. Speaking from Belgrade, he said the ruling sends a message about international law.
伊恩·班克罗夫特是西巴尔干地区人道主义组织TransConflict的联合创始人之一。他在贝尔格莱德发表讲话时表示，这一裁决发传达了关于国际法的一个信号。
IAN BANCROFT: "Therefore, any secessionist movement, no matter where it is in the world, will look towards this and gain some encouragement that they too can pursue this path."
班克罗夫特：“于是，任何分裂主义运动，无论它身在何处，都将关注这次裁决并从中得到鼓励，认为他们也可以走这条线路。”
But Kurt Volker, former American ambassador to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is not so sure what will happen.
但前美国驻北约大使库尔特·沃尔克并不认为将会发生什么。
KURT VOLKER: "I don't think this is going to have that big an effect on either side, whether it's the states who want to maintain their territorial integrity against the aspirations of some of their own indigenous people or, for that matter, movements that want to seek their own independence and freedom."
沃尔克：“我认为这对任何一方都不会产生这么大的影响，无论是压制土著居民意愿希望保持领土完整的国家，还是为此希望寻求自己独立自主的分裂运动。”
Mr. Volker says "those desires are already going on," and will continue independent of the decision.
沃尔克先生说：“那些意愿还将继续，”而该裁决也将保持独立性(意为特例)。
The judges on the International Court of Justice, sometimes called the World Court, voted ten to four. The ruling is non-binding; it does not have legal force.
国际法院的法官们以10:4的投票通过裁决。这项裁决不具约束力，也不具法律效力。
Sixty-nine countries have already recognized Kosovo. These include the United States, Japan and most of the European Union.
已经有69个国家承认科索沃独立，包括美国，日本和大多数欧盟国家。
Serbia's main ally Russia has recognized the self-declared independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. But Russia does not recognize Kosovo. Nor does another permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China.
塞尔维亚的主要盟友俄罗斯已承认格鲁吉亚的南奥塞梯和阿布哈兹单方面宣布独立。但俄罗斯不承认科索沃独立，另一个联合国安理会常任理国--中国也不承认（科索沃的独立）。
In Washington, the State Department welcomed the ruling. It urged Europe to "unite behind a common future." But spokesman P.J. Crowley said it is too soon to discuss withdrawing the NATO-led international security force in Kosovo.
在华盛顿，美国国务院对该裁决表示欢迎。它敦促欧洲“为了共同未来联合起来。”但国务院发言人克劳利说，讨论撤出北约领导的驻科索沃国际安全部队尚为时过早。
Kosovo was a Serbian province that became a United Nations protectorate in nineteen ninety-nine. That followed seventy-eight days of NATO bombing against Serbia. The campaign ended a two-year war between Serbia and the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo.
科索沃原来是塞尔维亚的一个省，1999年后由联合馆代管。这是在北约对塞尔维亚78天的轰炸后，该行动结束了科索沃地区塞尔维亚族和阿尔巴尼亚族之间长达2年的战争。
The advisory opinion from the court will go to the United Nations General Assembly. A debate on Kosovo is expected in September.
国际法院的咨询意见将递交联合馆大会，关于科索沃问题的辩论预计将在9月份进行。
On Friday, in a separate development, police in Kosovo arrested the head of the country's central bank. The arrest was part of a continuing series of corruption investigations of officials.
而一方面，周五科索沃警察逮捕了该国央行行长，这次逮捕行动是一系列针对官员腐败调查的一部分。