UNITED NATIONS-In a victory for Serbia, the International Court of Justice will be asked to provide a formal opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence.

The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday approved making the request of the U.N.'s Dutch-based court in a 77-6 vote.

Serbia, which proposed seeking the court opinion, considers Kosovo's drive for independence illegal. It maintains that Kosovo is its religious and historic heartland and, along with Russia, rejected Kosovo's declaration in February.

"This is a great day for international law," Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said after the voting.

The conflict is one of several that have led to growing tensions between Russia and the United States and many NATO allies. After war in August between Russia and Georgia, Russia cited Western support for Kosovo as bolstering Moscow's case for recognizing Georgia's two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

A Liberian diplomat complained that her vote was not counted due to a technical malfunction, but the assembly president deemed the vote legitimate. As many as 74 nations abstained from Wednesday's vote, rather than support seeking an advisory opinion from the main judicial arm of the U.N. The rest of the 192-nation assembly did not attend.

"More countries felt unable to support the resolution than voted for it, and those are reservations," said British Ambassador John Sawers, who abstained from voting. "It included many countries that Serbia needs to work with, if it is to join the European Union."

The U.S. voted against the resolution after deciding that it "was not going to enhance stability in the region, the kind of future we want to see for southeastern Europe," U.S. diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo said.

"We are very confident in our position that recognition of Kosovo was in conformity with international law," she said.

Diplomats say it is not clear what, if any, effect such an advisory opinion might have on the political process. The court was set up at the end of World War II to help settle legal disputes and to provide opinions on legal questions submitted by U.N. member nations.

The court's opinion on Kosovo, which experts say could take one to three years, is not binding.

An independent Kosovo has been recognized by almost 50 U.N.-member nations, including the U.S., Japan, Canada and most EU nations. The court's action could slow others from doing the same. Some nations have said they worry that acceptance of Kosovo could energize other separatist movements such as those in Spain's Basque region.

Kosovo came under U.N. and NATO administration after a NATO-led air war halted former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

Despite Russian opposition, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been moving ahead with a new plan for administering Kosovo. It is a step supported by most other U.N. Security Council members, and one that would help propel Kosovo's independence by handing some of the key operating duties to the European Union.

Serbian President Boris Tadic has proposed splitting Kosovo along ethnic lines, which Kosovo authorities calls a dangerous idea. Ethnic Albanians comprise about 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people.

Russia wants the U.N. to remain in Kosovo, which would undercut the EU helping Kosovo firm up its claim to independence. There also are about 1,600 U.S. troops in Kosovo, part of a 16,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force, that Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday would remain in Kosovo at least until last next year.