Abbreviation | UNCRO |
---|---|
Formation | 31 March 1995 |
Type | Peacekeeping mission |
Legal status | Completed on 15 January 1996 |
Head | Byung Suk Min (head of the mission, from July 1995) Raymond Crabbe (UNCRO commander, until July 1995) Eid Kamal Al-Rodan (UNCRO commander, from July 1995) |
Parent organization | United Nations Security Council |
Website | https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/uncro.htm |
The United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia, commonly abbreviated UNCRO, was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Croatia. It was established under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter and approved by the UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 981 on 31 March 1995. UNCRO inherited personnel and infrastructure from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). Its command was located in Zagreb; the peacekeeping troops were deployed in four sectors named North, South, East, and West. Twenty different countries contributed troops to the mission.
UNCRO started with more than 15,000 troops taken over from UNPROFOR; the personnel count was gradually reduced to approximately 7,000 by the end of the mission in early 1996. South Korean diplomat Byung Suk Min was the civilian head of the mission, while the military commanders of UNCRO were Generals Raymond Crabbe and Eid Kamal Al-Rodan. UNCRO was linked with UNPROFOR, which remained active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), which was deployed in the Republic of Macedonia. The mission was terminated on 15 January 1996 by UNSC Resolution 1025, passed on 30 November 1995. Sixteen UNCRO troops were killed, including four during Operation Storm in August 1995.
UNCRO was tasked with upholding the March 1994 ceasefire in the Croatian War of Independence, supporting an agreement on economic cooperation between Croatia and the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), monitoring areas between opposing armies, monitoring the demilitarised Prevlaka peninsula, undertaking liaison functions, delivering humanitarian aid, and occupying 25 checkpoints along Croatia's international borders between RSK-held territory, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. UNCRO, like the UNPROFOR mission before it, was criticised for lacking sufficient troops and adequate resources to carry out the mission, and fulfilment of the mission's mandate proved nearly impossible.
In 1990, following the electoral defeat of the Communist regime in Croatia, ethnic tensions worsened. After the elections, the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska narodna armija, or JNA) confiscated the weapons of Croatia's Territorial Defence Force (Teritorijalna obrana, or TO) to minimise any resistance. [1] On 17 August 1990, the tensions escalated to an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs, [2] centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin, [3] and parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Croatia regions. [4] The Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), later established in those areas, declared its intention to integrate with Serbia, and was viewed by the Government of Croatia as a breakaway region. [5] The JNA prevented Croatian police from intervening. [2] By March 1991, the conflict had escalated into the Croatian War of Independence. [6] In June, Croatia declared independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated, [7] but implementation of the decision was postponed until 8 October [8] by a three-month moratorium. [9] A campaign of ethnic cleansing then began in the RSK; most non-Serbs were expelled by early 1993. [10] [11]
As the JNA increasingly supported the RSK, the Croatian police could not cope with the situation. In May 1991, the Croatian National Guard (Zbor narodne garde, or ZNG) was formed as the military of Croatia [12] and was renamed the Croatian Army (Hrvatska vojska, or HV) in November. [12] Late 1991 saw the fiercest fighting of the war, culminating in the Battle of the Barracks, [13] the siege of Dubrovnik, [14] and the Battle of Vukovar. [15] In January 1992, a ceasefire agreement to implement the Vance plan was signed by representatives of Croatia, the JNA, and the UN, and fighting paused. [16] The Vance plan was designed to stop hostilities in Croatia and allow negotiations by neutralizing any influence caused by fighting, but offered no political solutions in advance. The plan entailed deployment of the 10,000-person United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to the major conflict areas known as "UN Protected Areas" (UNPAs). [17] UNPROFOR was tasked with creating a buffer between the belligerents, disarming Croatian Serb elements of the TO, overseeing JNA and HV withdrawal from the UNPAs, and return of refugees to the area. [17] United Nations Security Council Resolution 743 of 21 February 1992 described the legal basis of the UN mission that had been requested and agreed upon in November 1991, and made no explicit reference to Chapter VI or Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. [18] Only a reference to Chapter VII would have permitted the peacekeeping force to enforce its mandate regardless of the level of cooperation of the belligerents. [19]
Because of organisational problems and breaches of the ceasefire agreement, UNPROFOR did not start to deploy until 8 March [18] and took two months to fully deploy in the UNPAs. Even though UNPROFOR had placed most heavy weapons of the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina (ARSK) in storage controlled jointly by the UN and the RSK by January 1993, [20] the force was unable to fulfil all of the provisions of the Vance plan, including disarmament of the ARSK, the return of refugees, restoration of civilian authority, and the establishment of an ethnically integrated police. [21] It also failed to remove ARSK forces from areas outside the designated UNPAs which were under ARSK control at the time the ceasefire had been signed. Those areas, later known as the "pink zones", [20] were supposed to be restored to Croatian control from the outset. [22] Failure to implement this aspect of the Vance plan made the pink zones a major source of contention between Croatia and the RSK. [23] In 1993, worried that the situation on the ground might become permanent, Croatia launched several small-scale military offensives against the RSK to seize significant local objectives and attract international attention. In response, the ARSK retrieved their weapons from the UN/RSK-controlled storage sites, reversing the only major success of UNPROFOR in Croatia. [20]
The UNPROFOR mandate was extended several times, in increments of up to six months, with consent of the government of Croatia. [22] That changed in early 1995, when Croatian President Franjo Tuđman wrote to the Secretary-General of the United Nations informing him that Croatia would not accept further extensions of the mission once it expired on 31 March and asking that UNPROFOR leave Croatia by the end of June. [24] At the time, it was established UN practice to seek consent of the country where its peacekeepers were deployed, and the letter effectively required UNPROFOR to withdraw completely from Croatia. [25] Such action would also require abolishment of the UNPAs, which had been identified as integral parts of Croatia by United Nations Security Council Resolution 815 of 30 March 1993. [26] Two days later, the Secretary-General reported to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that UNPROFOR was unable to implement important elements of the Vance plan, enforce a ceasefire, or protect its own vehicles against hijackings in the UNPAs. [27]
On 31 January, US ambassador Peter Galbraith unsuccessfully tried to persuade Tuđman's aide Hrvoje Šarinić to accept another extension of the UNPROFOR mandate, explaining that the conflict would inevitably escalate once the UN force withdrew. [27] This rebuff was followed by harsh French and UK diplomatic responses calling on the UN to ignore the Croatian decision, which resulted in Tuđman dismissing any extension of the mandate. [25] The US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Richard Holbrooke, met Tuđman and suggested to him that if UNPROFOR was permitted to stay, Croatia could count on integration into the European Union and NATO. As a way out of the diplomatic row, Holbrooke proposed that UNPROFOR be replaced by a new mission using the same personnel and organisational structure. [28] Following Croatian agreement, the UNSC adopted Resolution 981 establishing the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO), replacing UNPROFOR in the country. [29] The new mission's name was devised by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Shashi Tharoor. [30]
The UNCRO mission was established under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. It was initially scheduled to end on 30 November 1995, and its mandate was to support implementation of a ceasefire agreed to by Croatia and the RSK on 29 March 1994, as well as an agreement on economic cooperation made on 2 December 1994. [31] The former entailed monitoring areas between HV and ARSK forward positions, verification that specific types of heavy weapons were at least 10 or 20 kilometres (6.2 or 12.4 miles) away from the forward military positions or placed in storage, maintenance of checkpoints, chairing Joint Commissions, and performance of liaison functions. The economic functions were supporting negotiation and implementation of further economic arrangements and facilitating and supporting activities aimed at opening of transport routes and power and water supply networks. [32]
UNCRO was also tasked with delivery of humanitarian aid and control, monitoring, and reporting of any transport of military personnel, supplies, equipment, or weapons across UNCRO-staffed border checkpoints between RSK-held parts of Croatia on one side and Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the other. [31] There were 25 border checkpoints manned by UNCRO. [33] The mandate also directed UNCRO to monitor demilitarisation of the Prevlaka Peninsula at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, according to the UNSC Resolution 779. [31] Deployment of UNCRO was formally approved by the UNSC on 28 April. [34] The mission was scheduled to be scaled down in June to 8,750 troops from the larger UNPROFOR force in the country. [33] [35]
UNCRO was criticised for several reasons. The Secretary-General's Report to the Council described the failures of UNPROFOR, but the new mission did not address them. There were insufficient troops, having been reduced from UNPROFOR levels by the new mission mandate, and inadequate human and material resources to carry out the mission tasks. As a result, fulfilment of the mission mandate was nearly impossible. [36] While Croatian sources said that the mission name was the only real difference from UNPROFOR, the RSK authorities were not satisfied with the UNCRO mission. Specifically, the RSK objected to the deployment of UNCRO troops along the international borders and to the mission name. [37] Conversely, Croats were pleased that the mission acronym appeared to be an abbreviation of Croatia. [30] In response, Czech UNCRO troops used vehicle licence plates bearing the new mission's acronym when operating in HV-controlled territory and UNPROFOR plates in areas held by the ARSK due to safety concerns. [38]
UNSC Resolution | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|
981 | 31 March 1995 | Establishment of UNCRO [31] |
990 | 28 April 1995 | Deployment of UNCRO [34] |
994 | 17 May 1995 | Implementation of UNCRO mission following Operation Flash [39] |
1025 | 30 November 1995 | Termination of UNCRO [40] |
UNCRO was commanded from UN Peace Force Headquarters (UNPF-HQ) established in Zagreb. UNPF-HQ controlled UNCRO, the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the Republic of Macedonia, and UNPROFOR—which was confined to Bosnia and Herzegovina from late March. [36] The UNPF-HQ commander was French Lieutenant General Bernard Janvier. [41] In July, South Korean diplomat Byung Suk Min was appointed as head of UNCRO, [42] with Major General Eid Kamal Al-Rodan of the Royal Jordanian Army as the mission's military commander. [43] Before Al-Rodan, the post was held by Canadian Lieutenant General Raymond Crabbe. [44] UNCRO was initially deployed to the same parts of Croatia as UNPROFOR, however contemporary UNSC documents no longer referred to them as UNPAs—applying the designations of Sector East, West, North, and South, or "areas under the control of the local Serb authorities" instead. [31] [39] [40] [45] [46] One group of sources refers to the areas of UNCRO deployment as UNPAs, [47] another reflects the UNSC practice and omits the acronym, [48] while others refer to the areas as "former UNPAs". [36]
Troops from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United States contributed to the mission. When UNCRO replaced UNPROFOR in Croatia in March 1995, there were 15,229 UN troops—including UNPF-HQ personnel—in Croatia. By mid-November, the mission had been scaled down to 7,041 personnel, including 164 UN Military Observers and 296 UN Civilian Police (UNCIVPOL) personnel. [49] [50]
Deployment | Component | Personnel (November 1995) | Personnel (March 1995) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Headquarters | 336 | 404 | Includes 39 UNMO and 26 UNCIVPOL personnel (November); Located in Zagreb | |
Garrison command | 26 | Includes 19 UNIVPOL personnel (November); Located in Zagreb | ||
14 | Includes 4 UNCIVPOL personnel (November); Located in Split | |||
6 | Located in Ploče | |||
Sector East | Belgium | 693 | 769 | Infantry |
Russia | 912 | 856 | ||
Slovakia | 590 | 567 | Engineer battalion (support unit, deployed to the Sector East) [51] | |
UNMO | 48 | |||
UNCIVPOL | 16 | |||
Former Sector North | Denmark | 119 | 953 | Infantry |
Poland | 461 | 1,141 | ||
Ukraine | 5 | 555 | ||
Jordan | 6 | see note | Infantry; Jordan deployed 3,283 troops to multiple sectors in Croatia in March 1995 | |
UNMO | 31 | |||
UNCIVPOL | 61 | |||
Former Sector South | Canada | 9 | 1,218 | Operation Harmony ; 2nd Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment replaced the 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment in mid-April 1995; Deployed to the Sector South; Deployment formally ended on 17 October 1995 [52] |
Czech Republic | 523 | 957 | 2nd Peacekeeping Battalion of the Czech Republic; Scaled down to 130 troops by mid-January 1996; Commanded by the Lieutenant Colonel Ľudovít Cirok [53] | |
Kenya | 2 | 974 | Infantry battalion deployed with UNPROFOR pulled out and replaced by military observers [54] | |
Jordan | 6 | see note | Infantry; Jordan deployed 3,283 troops to multiple sectors in Croatia in March 1995 | |
UNMO | 34 | |||
UNCIVPOL | 71 | |||
Former Sector West | Nepal | 165 | 898 | Infantry [55] |
Argentina | 0 | 862 | ||
Jordan | 0 | see note | Infantry; Jordan deployed 3,283 troops to multiple sectors in Croatia in March 1995, including the Sector West [55] | |
UNMO | 12 | |||
UNCIVPOL | 99 | |||
Support units | Canada | 450 | 0 | Designated as a support unit in November 1995, deployed to the Sector South in March 1995 |
Denmark | 11 | ? | Logistic contingent; March 1995 troop size included in the Sector North deployment | |
France | 828 | 843 | Logistics battalion | |
Finland | 39 | 43 | Finguard HQ | |
Indonesia | 236 | 220 | Medical battalion | |
Netherlands | 78 | 148 | Logistic base | |
Norway | 114 | 111 | Movement control unit | |
Sweden | 100 | 128 | HQ company | |
United States | 361 | 299 | Field hospital, located in Zagreb; Part of the Operation Provide Promise [56] [57] | |
Ukraine | 60 | 555 | Helicopter unit | |
Germany | 519 | 0 | Field hospital, located in Trogir to support UNPROFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina [58] | |
TOTAL | 7,041 | 15,229 |
On 1 May, HV launched Operation Flash and overran the ARSK-held part of Sector West in the course of few days. Šarinić warned Crabbe of the attack hours in advance to allow UNCRO troops to seek shelter. [44] The RSK authorities said that some ARSK units were not able to remove antitank weapons from UNCRO depots in Stara Gradiška and near Pakrac until after the offensive began. These weapons had been stored there pursuant to the March 1994 ceasefire agreement. [59] Nonetheless, UNCRO did not stop ARSK troops from retrieving the weapons. [60] During the fighting, ARSK troops took 15 UNCIVPOL members, two interpreters, and 89 Nepalese and Argentinean troops hostage to use as human shields against the HV. HV troops hijacked an UNCRO armoured personnel carrier and a Land Rover to precede HV tanks that were moving west along the A3 motorway. [61] On 3 May, the Argentinean battalion of UNCRO facilitated the surrender of 600 ARSK troops near Pakrac, following an agreement reached between Croatia and the RSK which was mediated by Yasushi Akashi, the personal representative of the UN Secretary-General. [62] During Operation Flash, three Jordanian UNCRO troops were wounded by HV fire. [55] The offensive made clear that the deployment of UNCRO would not deter further Croatian offensives. [63]
On 4 August, the HV initiated Operation Storm, which was aimed at recapturing Sectors North and South, which encompassed the bulk of the RSK. [64] UNCRO was notified three hours in advance of the attack, when Šarinić made a phone call with Janvier. In addition, each HV corps notified the UNCRO sector in the path of its planned advance, and requested written confirmation that the information had been received. UNCRO relayed the information to the RSK authorities. [65] Two days later, UNCRO was requested to protect 35,000 Serb civilians accompanying the ARSK as it retreated towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were trapped near Topusko when HV troops captured Glina, closing the last road available to them. [66] The UNCRO Ukrainian battalion base was used as a venue for negotiations for the surrender of the trapped ARSK Kordun Corps; the negotiations were conducted in the presence of UNCRO officers. [67] The commander of UNCRO Sector North signed the surrender agreement as a witness. [68] This offensive also involved actions against UN peacekeepers; the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which supported the offensive from the Bihać pocket, attacked UNCRO observation posts manned by Polish troops, while HV troops used several Danish peacekeepers as human shields. [69] During the offensive, ARSK detained five Sector East headquarters staff, several UNCRO vehicles were hijacked, and UN personnel were harassed. Four UN peacekeepers were killed in the offensive—three as a result of HV actions, and one as a result of ARSK fire—and 16 were injured. HV troops also destroyed 98 UN observation posts. [70]
Following the two offensives and negotiations led by Akashi, UNCRO continued to supervise the ceasefire in Sector East. [70] The role of UNCRO in Sectors North and South was limited to post-conflict peace-building following an agreement between Croatian authorities and Akashi. [71] By November 1995, UNCRO had withdrawn to Sector East. [72] Even though the UN had planned to reduce UNCRO to 4,190 troops by the end of September, and to approximately 2,500 by October, [73] the mission strength remained at more than 7,000 troops until November. [49]
The UNCRO mission was ended by UNSC Resolution 1025, passed on 30 November 1995. The resolution was passed in the wake of the Erdut Agreement between Croatia and representatives of Serbs in Sector East. It defined mechanisms for peaceful restoration of the region to Croatian control and established an interim period ending on 15 January 1996, when authority was to be transferred from UNCRO to a new transitional force to be deployed to the area. [40] When the interim period expired, the UNSC adopted resolutions 1037 and 1038, which established the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium in the former Sector East and the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka. Commencement of the two new missions coincided with NATO's arrival in Bosnia and Herzegovina to enforce the Dayton Accords. [74]
Sixteen UNCRO personnel died during the mission: three Kenyan soldiers were killed; the Czech, Danish, French, and Russian battalions lost two each; and the Argentinean, Belgian, Jordanian, Polish, and Ukrainian contingents each lost one. [75] Four of the UNCRO peacekeepers were killed during major combat in the mission area. [70]
The United Nations Medal was awarded to troops who served with UNCRO for at least 90 consecutive days. [76] The medal was issued suspended from a ribbon 35 millimetres (1.4 inches) wide with a 9-millimetre (0.35 in) red stripe with a white border on a blue background, flanked by 6-millimetre (0.24 in) stripes—olive green on the left and brown on the right—set 3 millimetres (0.12 inches) apart from the white border. [77]
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.
Operation Storm was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a 630-kilometre (390 mi) front against the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), and a strategic victory for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). The HV was supported by the Croatian special police advancing from the Velebit Mountain, and the ARBiH located in the Bihać pocket, in the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina's (ARSK) rear. The battle, launched to restore Croatian control of 10,400 square kilometres of territory, representing 18.4% of the territory it claimed, and Bosniak control of Western Bosnia, was the largest European land battle since World War II. Operation Storm commenced at dawn on 4 August 1995 and was declared complete on the evening of 7 August, despite significant mopping-up operations against pockets of resistance lasting until 14 August.
Operation Medak Pocket, officially called by Croatians Operation Pocket-93(Operacija Džep-93) was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army between 9 – 17 September 1993, in which a salient reaching the south suburbs of Gospić, in the south-central Lika region of Croatia then under the control of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, was attacked by Croatian forces. The pocket was named after the village of Medak.
The United Nations Protection Force was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. The force was formed in February 1992 and its mandate ended in March 1995, with the peacekeeping mission restructuring into three other forces.
Operation Flash was a brief Croatian Army (HV) offensive conducted against the forces of the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) from 1–3 May 1995. The offensive occurred in the later stages of the Croatian War of Independence and was the first major confrontation after ceasefire and economic cooperation agreements were signed between Croatia and the RSK in 1994. The last organised RSK resistance formally ceased on 3 May, with the majority of troops surrendering the next day near Pakrac, although mop-up operations continued for another two weeks.
The Battle of the Miljevci Plateau was a clash between the Croatian Army and forces of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), fought on 21–23 June 1992, during the Croatian War of Independence. The battle represented the culmination of a series of skirmishes between the HV and the RSK forces in Northern Dalmatia, after the implementation of the Vance plan and deployment of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) began. The skirmishes occurred in the pink zones—areas under control of the RSK, but outside the UN Protected Areas established by the Vance plan.
The Z-4 Plan was a proposed basis for negotiations to end the Croatian War of Independence with a political settlement. It was drafted by Peter W. Galbraith, Leonid Kerestedjiants and Geert-Hinrich Ahrens on behalf of a mini-Contact Group comprising United Nations envoys and diplomats from the United States, Russia and the European Union. The co-chairs of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, David Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, were closely involved in the political process surrounding the plan. The document was prepared in the final months of 1994 and early 1995 before being presented to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman and the leaders of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) on 30 January 1995. Tuđman was displeased with the proposal, but accepted it as a basis for further negotiations. However, the RSK authorities even refused to receive the document before UNPROFOR mandate status was resolved. According to later reactions, RSK leadership was not satisfied with the plan.
Operation Summer '95 was a joint military offensive of the Croatian Army (HV) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) that took place north-west of the Livanjsko Polje, and around Bosansko Grahovo and Glamoč in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The operation was carried out between 25 and 29 July 1995, during the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War. The attacking force of 8,500 troops commanded by HV's Lieutenant General Ante Gotovina initially encountered strong resistance from the 5,500-strong Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) 2nd Krajina Corps. The HV/HVO pushed the VRS back, capturing about 1,600 square kilometres of territory and consequently intercepting the Knin—Drvar road—a critical supply route of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). The operation failed to achieve its declared primary goal of drawing VRS units away from the besieged city of Bihać, but it placed the HV in position to capture the RSK's capital Knin in Operation Storm days later.
Operation Winter '94 was a joint military offensive of the Croatian Army (HV) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) fought in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina between 29 November and 24 December 1994. The operation formed part of the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War fought between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and two unrecognized para-states proclaimed by Croatian Serbs and Bosnian Serbs. Both para-states were supported by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serbia. The JNA pulled out in 1992, but transferred much of its equipment to the Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb forces as it withdrew.
United Nations Security Council resolution 743, adopted unanimously on 21 February 1992, after reaffirming resolutions 713 (1991), 721 (1991), 724 (1991), 727 (1992) and 740 (1992), and considering that the situation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constitutes a threat to international peace and stability, the council established a peacekeeping mission in the country, known as the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), with the aim of reaching a peaceful political settlement in the region.
United Nations Security Council resolution 807, adopted unanimously on 19 February 1993, after reaffirming Resolution 743 (1992) and all subsequent relevant resolutions concerning the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), the Council determined that the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia continued to constitute a threat to international peace and security and therefore extended the mandate of UNPROFOR for an interim period ending 31 March 1993.
United Nations Security Council resolution 908, adopted unanimously on 31 March 1994, after reaffirming all resolutions on the situation in the former Yugoslavia and in particular Resolution 871 (1993), the council extended the mandate of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) until 30 September 1994 and declared its intention to increase the number of personnel in the peacekeeping force.
United Nations Security Council resolution 981, adopted unanimously on 31 March 1995, after reaffirming all resolutions on the situation in the former Yugoslavia, the council established the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO) for a period terminating 30 November 1995.
United Nations Security Council resolution 994, adopted unanimously on 17 May 1995, after reaffirming all resolutions on the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, particularly resolutions 981 (1995), 982 (1995) and 990 (1995), the Council discussed the withdrawal of Croatian Army from the zone of separation and the full deployment of the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO).
The Split Agreement or Split Declaration was a mutual defence agreement between Croatia, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in Split, Croatia on 22 July 1995. It called on the Croatian Army (HV) to intervene militarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily in relieving the siege of Bihać.
Operation Tiger was a Croatian Army (HV) offensive conducted in areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina near Dubrovnik between 1 and 13 July 1992. It was designed to push the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) away from the city towards Popovo field and secure a supply route via Rijeka Dubrovačka, which was gained in early June as the siege of Dubrovnik by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) was lifted. The operation's success was facilitated by the establishment of the HV's Southern Front command and the successful conclusion of the May–June 1992 operations against the VRS in the Neretva River valley, which concluded with Operation Jackal.
The Vance plan was a peace plan negotiated by the former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. At that time, Vance was the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; he was assisted by United States diplomat Herbert Okun during the negotiations. The plan was designed to implement a ceasefire, demilitarize parts of Croatia that were under the control of Croatian Serbs and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), allow the return of refugees, and create favourable conditions for negotiations on a permanent political settlement of the conflict resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Operation Backstop was a United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) military plan designed to guard a portion of the United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) against attack by the Croatian Army during the Croatian War of Independence. The operation, developed by the UNPROFOR staff in charge of the UNPA Western Slavonia in 1992, was scheduled to be implemented by two mechanised companies of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) battalion deployed in the area.
The Daruvar Agreement was a document negotiated by Croatian and Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) local authorities in the United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) for the SAO Western Slavonia, also known as Sector West on 18 February 1993, during the Croatian War of Independence. The agreement provided for the improvement of water and electrical power supply, the return of refugees to their homes and the opening of transport routes spanning Sector West and connecting Croatian Army-controlled areas near towns of Nova Gradiška and Novska. It also provided a framework for the further improvement of living conditions of the population both in the Croatian- and RSK-controlled portions of Sector West. The agreement was named after Daruvar, the site of its signing.
Operation Baranja was an aborted offensive of the Croatian Army north of the towns of Belišće and Valpovo, Croatia on 3 April 1992 during the Croatian War of Independence. The offensive quickly gained ground after the HV advanced north of the Drava River into Baranja. The defending force of the Croatian Serb Territorial Defence Force supported by the Yugoslav People's Army artillery were caught unprepared and offered light resistance.