Local elections will be organized on the Serpents' Island (Rom.: Insula Serpilor), the Ukrainian vice prime minister, Aleksandr Kuzmuk, announced on Friday. "There, where institutions are working and where conditions to call it a human settlement are fulfilled, a legal leadership is required", said Kuzmuk after visiting the island on Thursday.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Bucharest hasn't yet responded to this intention. However, the ForMin spokesman declared for Hotnews.ro that a point of view may be published on Friday.

The Serpents' Island is the reason of an ongoing diplomatic conflict between Romania and Ukraine. A decision from the International Court of Justice is expected in the second half of 2008.

Arsenie Iateniuk, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, declared that his country expects the Court's decision on the issue until the end of 2008.

Kuzmuk reminded that 22 economic institutions function on the island, including a lighthouse, a scientific research facility, a postal office, a bank and even a border patrol unit.

Kuzmuk says that "not any court, not from anywhere in the world, may decide the fact that the island is not an Ukrainian territory".