The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections. It employs around 3,460 people, mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in Vienna, Austria, and its institutions. It has observer status at the United Nations.
The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was a UN peacebuilding transitional administration in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the eastern parts of Croatia. The transitional administration lasted between 1996 and 1998. The transitional administration was formally established by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1037 of January 15, 1996. The transitional administration was envisaged and invited in the November 1995 Erdut Agreement between the Croatian Government and the representatives of the local Serb community in the region. At the time of UNTAES deployment the region already hosted another traditional type UN peacekeeping mission known as the UNCRO. While the region was covered under the UNCRO's sector east, the whole UNCRO mission was brought into question by the Operation Storm escalation of hostilities.
Vukovar-Srijem County, Vukovar-Sirmium County or Vukovar-Syrmia County, named after the eponymous town of Vukovar and the region of Syrmia, is the easternmost Croatian county. It includes the eastern parts of the region of Slavonia and the western parts of the region of Syrmia, as well as the lower Sava river basin, Posavina and Danube river basin Podunavlje. Due to the overlapping definitions of geographic regions, division on Slavonia and Syrmia approximately divides the county vertically into north-west and south-east half, while division on Posavina and Podunavlje divides it horizontally on north-east and south-west half.
Borovo, also known as Borovo Selo, is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern part of Croatia. Situated on the banks of the Danube river, it shares its border with Serbia and the municipality of Bač on the opposite side. The historical development of Borovo is intricately linked with the Danube, which has played a pivotal role in its development as a notable industrial hub in the region.
The Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was a self-proclaimed Serbian Autonomous Oblast (SAO) in eastern Croatia, established during the Yugoslav Wars. It was one of three SAOs proclaimed on the territory of Croatia. The oblast included parts of the geographical regions of Slavonia, Baranja, and Syrmia along the Croatian section of the Danube river Podunavlje region.
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, commonly abbreviated as Eastern Slavonia, was a short-lived Serb parallel entity in the territory of Croatia along the Danube river.
United Nations Security Council resolution 795, adopted on 11 December 1992, after expressing concern about possible developments which could undermine confidence and stability in the Republic of Macedonia and welcoming the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Macedonia, the Council recalled Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter and authorised the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to deploy a presence of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the border areas of Macedonia.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1023, adopted unanimously on 22 November 1995, after recalling all resolutions on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the Council noted the "Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium" between the Government of Croatia and local Serb representatives.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1025, adopted unanimously on 30 November 1995, after recalling resolutions 981 (1995) and 1023 (1995) on Croatia, the Council decided that the mandate of the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation (UNCRO) would terminate after an interim period ending 15 January 1996.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1037, adopted unanimously on 15 January 1996, after recalling previous resolutions on Croatia including resolutions 1023 (1995) and 1025 (1995), the council established the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (UNTAES) for an initial period of 12 months.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1120, adopted unanimously on 14 July 1997, after recalling previous resolutions on Croatia including 1023 (1995), 1025 (1995), 1037 (1996), 1043 (1996), 1069 (1996) and 1079 (1996), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) until 15 January 1998.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1145, adopted unanimously on 19 December 1997, after noting the termination of the mandate of the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium on 15 January 1998 in accordance with Resolution 1120 (1997), the Council authorised a support group of 180 civilian police monitors, known as the United Nations Civilian Police Support Group (UNPSG), to observe the situation in eastern Croatia for an additional nine months.
The Serb National Council is an elected political, consulting and coordinating body which acts as a form of self-government and autonomous cultural institution of the Serbs of Croatia in matters regarding civil rights and cultural identity. The council's main focuses are human, civil and national rights, as well the issues of Serbs of Croatia identity, participation and integration in the Croatian society. Since 2000 the council is a member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities.
The Erdut Agreement, officially the Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, is an agreement reached on 12 November 1995 between the authorities of the Republic of Croatia and the local Serb authorities of the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia region on the peaceful resolution to the Croatian War of Independence in eastern Croatia. It effectively ended the ethno-nationalist conflict in the region and initiated the process of peaceful reintegration of the region to central government control. The reintegration was directly implemented by the United Nations. The agreement provided a set of guarantees on human and minority rights as well as on the refugee return. It was named after Erdut, the village in which it was signed by local Serb representatives.
Tenja is a village in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located just southeast of Osijek. The population is 7,376.
The Joint Council of Municipalities in Croatia is an elected consultative sui generis body which constitutes a form of cultural self-government of Serbs in the eastern Croatian Podunavlje region. The body was established in the initial aftermath of the Croatian War of Independence as a part of the international community's efforts to peacefully settle the conflict in self-proclaimed Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Syrmia. The establishment of the ZVO was one of the explicit provisions of the Erdut Agreement which called upon the United Nations to establish its UNTAES transitional administration.
The Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia is constitutional law which defines rights of national minorities in Croatia. It is one of in total three Constitutional Acts in the Croatian legal system, with the other two being the Constitutional Act on Implementation of the Constitution of Croatia and the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of Croatia. In its current form, the Act entered into force on 23 December 2002. Its earlier version, under the title Constitutional Act on National and Ethnic Communities or Minorities was passed in December 1991 as a precondition of the international community for the recognition of Croatian independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Act is hierarchically under the Constitution of Croatia and must comply with it, but above ordinary state laws and decisions, and above statutes and decisions of lower levels of government, which all must be in accordance with this law. Additionally, two special laws were created to define rights regarding education in minority languages and specific rights on the usage of minority languages in public life. Additionally, the Constitution of Croatia itself has articles directly relating to the protection of national minorities, and lists traditional minorities in Croatia.
The Serbian language is one of the officially recognized minority languages in Croatia. It is primarily used by the Serbs of Croatia. The Croatian Constitution, Croatian Constitutional law on national minorities rights, Law on Education in Language and Script of National Minorities and Law on Use of Languages and Scripts of National Minorities define the public co-official usage of Serbian in Croatia. Serbian and Croatian are two standardized varieties of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language. The majority of Serbs of Croatia use Ijekavian pronunciation of Proto-Slavic vowel jat except in the Podunavlje region in Vukovar-Syrmia and Osijek-Baranja Counties where local Serb population use Ekavian pronunciation. Post-World War II and Croatian War of Independence settlers in Podunavlje which have come from Bosnia, Dalmatia or Western Slavonia either use their original Ijekavian pronunciation, adopted Ekavian pronunciation or both of them depending on context. In 2011 Census majority of Serbs of Croatia declared Croatian standardized variety as their first language with Ijekavian pronunciation always being required standard form in Croatian. While Serbian variety recognizes both pronunciations as standard, Ekavian is the more common one as it is the dominant one in Serbia, with Ijekavian being dominant in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia.
The United Nations Civilian Police Support Group (UNPSG) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation monitoring the performance of the Croatian police in the Danube region from 16 January 1998 to 15 October 1998. The mission was active in the same area of the former parallel Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia which was previously directly governed by the UNTAES transitional administration between 1996 and 1998. The mission took over vehicles, equipment and other support assets from UNTAES. UNPSG was not the first CIVPOL engagement in the region as earlier missions of UNPROFOR, UNCRO and UNTAES all included civilian police components.
1997 Eastern Slavonia integrity referendum was held on 6 April in short-lived Serb parallel entity of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia which at the time was already governed by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) as an UN governed territory. Voters were asked whether they supported the proposal for the region of Eastern Slavonia to remain a single territorial oblast within Croatia after the end of UNTAES mandate instead of division into Vukovar-Syrmia and Osijek-Baranja County. Reportedly 99.01% or 99.5% of voters voted for the integrity of the region within Croatia. 77,40 % out of 100.275 registered voters participated in the referendum.
Croatia, with special focus on former Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia UN protectorate