The United Nations top court has ruled that Serbia and Croatia did not commit genocide against each other during the Balkan wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Today, the International Court of Justice said Serb forces committed widespread crimes in Croatia early in the war, but they did not amount to genocide.

It also ruled that a 1995 Croat offensive to win back territory from rebel Serbs featured serious crimes, but also did not reach the level of genocide.

It is hoped the ruling will help put to rest lingering animosities between the neighbouring countries.

Croatia had filed its initial case to the ICJ, and Serbia followed with a countersuit in 2010.

"It will probably be the end of a process that has lasted for 15-20 years... [and] will put an end to both sides' fight to prove who the worst criminal is," the Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told reporters after the judgement.