The United Nations' highest court ruled Tuesday that neither Croatia nor Serbia had committed genocide against each other's populations during the wars that accompanied the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Both sides said they hope the ruling will mark a watershed in relations, long since improved but still sometimes frosty.
Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice, said the forces of both countries had committed crimes during the conflict, but that the intent to commit genocide — by "destroying a population in whole or in part" — had not been proven against either country.