UNPROFOR IN CROATIA - A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS (1992-95)

ZAGREB, March 28 (Hina - by Igor Ilic and Slavoljub Leko) - The crisis which has lasted in the former Yugoslavia for several years turned into all-out war when Serbia began a campaign of armed aggression against Croatia in June 1991. The international community responded to this threat to European and world peace by launching the UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Forces) peace operation in the beginning of 1992. UNPROFOR's task was to stop the fighting and to provide the conditions for a political settlement of the crisis through negotiations. What has happened in the past three years? The following is a chronology of UNPROFOR's establishment, presence and efforts in Croatia as seen from various decisions and documents of the relevant international and Croatian factors: September 25, 1991 - The UN became actively involved in the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 713, which called on all countries to apply a general and complete arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia. October 8, 1991 - UN Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, appointed Cyrus Vance as his personal envoy to the former Yugoslavia. November 23, 1991 - Cyrus Vance called a meeting in Geneva which was attended by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslav Defence Minister Veljko Kadijevic and Chairman of the EU Conference on former Yugoslavia, Lord Peter Carrington. The meeting agreed on an immediate ceasefire and the warring sides expressed the wish to see the speedy establishment of a UN peace operation in former Yugoslavia. January 2, 1992 - A meeting between military representatives of Croatia and the JNA was organized in Sarajevo and an unconditional ceasefire agreement was signed. January 15, 1992 - European Union member countries recognized Croatia. February 21, 1992 - The UN Security Council, taking into consideration the Secretary-General's report and the demands of the Yugoslav government, adopted Resolution 743, which established UNPROFOR for twelve months as an interim arrangement to end fighting in Croatia and to create conditions for peace and security required for the negotiation of an overall settlement of the crisis in former Yugoslavia. The Resolution emphasised that the UN peace plan did not preempt a final political solution. April 7, 1992 - Passage of UNSC Resolution 749, which authorised the full deployment of UNPROFOR. The UN Protection Force was deployed in three UN Protected Areas. For United Nations purposes, they had been divided into four Sectors: East, West, North and South. The UN peace-keeping operation in Croatia was based on the so-called Vance Plan (after the UN Secretary- General's Personal Envoy, Cyrus Vance). The Vance Plan defined the operation as the UN peace-keeping operation in Yugoslavia and an interim arrangement to create the conditions required for the negotiation of an overall settlement of the Yugoslav crisis. The key elements of the Plan were the following: - the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army (JNA) from Croatia - the demilitarisation of the UN Protected Areas - the continued functioning, on an interim basis, of local authorities and police under UNPROFOR supervision, in proportions reflecting the pre-war ethnic sructure of the population, pending the achievement of an overall political solution to the crisis. The local authorities were bound to ensure the full protection of human rights. - UNPROFOR was to provide all appropriate support to humanitarian organisations and facilitate the return of displaced persons to their homes in the UN Protected Areas, under conditions of full safety. May 22, 1992 - Croatia admitted to full UN membership. June 30, 1992 - UNSC Resolution 762 was passed authorising the strengthening of the Force to perform additional functions in the so-called 'pink zones'. The Resolution recommended the establishment of a joint commission under the chairmanship of UNPROFOR, and involving Croatian Government officials, local authorities and representatives of the EC Monitor Mission, to supervise the reinstatement of Craotian authority in the pink zones. August 7, 1992 - UNSC Resolution 769 was passed which authorised the enlargement of UNPROFOR's mandate and strength to enable it to perform immigration and customs functions on the international borders of Croatia. October 6, 1992 - UNSC Resolution 779 was passed which authorised UNPROFOR to assume responsibility for supervising the demilitarisation of the Prevlaka peninsula (southern Adriatic). By the same resolution, the Council approved the Secretary- General's action to ensure the control by UNPROFOR of the Peruca Dam. January 25, 1993 - UNSC Resolution 802 was passed which demanded the immediate cessation of Croatian army activities within or adjacent to the UNPAs and their withdrawal from these areas; an end to attacks on UNPROFOR personnel, the return of heavy weaponry taken from UN-controlled storage areas and strict compliance by all parties to the terms of the cease-fire. February 10, 1993 - The Secretary-General submitted a report to the Security Council summarising UNPROFOR's activities in the past year. According to the report, UNPROFOR had ensured the full withdrawal of the Yugoslav army (JNA) from Croatia and prevented the recurrence of hostilities in the UNPAs and pink zones until the Maslenica operation. The non-cooperation of the Serb side prevented UNPROFOR from achieving the demilitarisation of the UNPAs, the return of displaced persons and the supervision of the Croatian international borders. The report proposed an extension of the existing mandate for an interim period up to March 31. The report was approved by UNSC Resolution 807 of February 19, 1993. March 30, 1993 - UNSC Resolution 815 was passed on extending the UNPROFOR mandate until June 30, 1993. April 6, 1993 - After several rounds of negotiations, brokered by the co-chairmen of the Steering Committee of the Peace Conference on Former Yugoslavia, the Croatian Government and local Serb forces signed an agreement on the implementation of UNSC Resolution 802. June 30, 1993 - The UN Security Council extended the UNPOFOR mandate to Sept 30, 1993, and instructed the Secretary-General to report on the progress achieved in the implementation of the UN peace plan within a month. August 12, 1993 - ICFY chairmen convened negotiations in Geneva involving Croatian Government and Knin Serb representatives. The negotiations were directed at achieving a cease-fire areement based on elements of the Zagreb and Erdut Agreements signed on July 15 and 16, just before the opening of the Maslenica Bridge (on July 18). September 20, 1993 - The UN Secretary-General proposed a six- month extension of the UNPROFOR mandate. In a report dealing primarily with Croatia, the Secretary-General said that he had been "sorely tempted" to recommend the withdrawal of the Force altogether because of the criticism of UNPROFOR by both sides and the dangers and abuse to which its personnel were exposed, but that such a step would only result in further conflict. To enhance the security of the Force, he requested the extension of close air support to Croatia. The Secretary-General also stated that should UNPROFOR's mandate be extedned, he would give "favourable" consideration to a suggestion by the Croatian President that the Force be divided into thee parts - UNPROFOR (Croatia), UNPROFOR (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and UNPROFOR (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), while retaining its integrated military, logistical and administrative structure. September 23, 1993 - Croatian government informed the Security Council that if the mandate of UNPROFOR was not amended to promote the energetic implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, Croatia would be forced to request UNPROFOR to leave the country no later then November 30, 1993. October 4, 1993 - After intensive consultations and two interim extensions of UN Protection Force's mandate for a 24-hour period on September 30, and for another four days on October 1 - the Security Council, by its resolution 871 extended the UNPROFOR mandate for a period of six months, to March 31, 1994. The Council called for an urgent ceasefire agreement in Croatia. By the adoption of Resolution 871 UNPROFOR's military structure was to be divided into three subordinate commands - for Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. December 17, 1993 - The representatives of Croatian government and of local Serb authorities signed a truce agreement that would have lasted from December 23 until January 15. The truce held up to January 15 and beyond. March 29, 1994 - The Zagreb ceasefire agreement was signed. The negotiations between Croatian government's delegation and local Serb representatives were attended by ambassadors Galbraith of the U.S. and Kerestedzhiyants of Russia, by ambassadors of ICFY Ahrens and Aide, and by UNPROFOR commander Gen. de Lapresle. March 30, 1994 - In a letter to the chairman of the Security Council Boutros-Ghali reported that the implementation of the Zagreb ceasefire agreement would demand the relocation of UN troops to disengagement zones, additional checks and monitoring points and patrols, as well as the monitoring of the withdrawal of heavy weapons. As a result of that the General Secretary proposed that the number of UNPROFOR troops be increased. March 31, 1994 - The Security Council by its resolution 908, extended the UNPROFOR mandate for another six months, instead of the twelve months demanded by Boutros-Ghali. July 1, 1994 - Croatian internally displaced people start to blockade UNPROFOR check-points along roads to the UN Protected Areas, as a protest against the Protection Force's inefficiency. The Blockade lasted until August, 22. September 17, 1994 - The UN General Secretary reported to the Security Council that the Vance plan and subsequent UNSC resolutions were not implemented due to opposition by Serb authorities in UNPA. September 23, 1994 - The Croatian Parliament adopted a resolution which extended the UNPROFOR mandate for another 100 days, from its expiry on September 30, but only if some apparent steps were undertaken and some explicit results were achieved within this period. September 30, 1994 - By its Resolution 947 the Security Council extended the UNPROFOR mandate for another six months, until March 31, 1995. The resolution urged the UN General Secretary to report on progress in the implementation of the peace plan for Croatia, by January 20. He was also asked to report on the implementation of UNSC resolutions, and to take into account the Croatian government's view. In the light of the report, he was to reconsider the UNPROFOR mandate. November 19, 1994 - Security Council adopted Resolution 958 in which close air support to UNPROFOR was also approved in Croatian UN Protected Areas. December 2, 1994 - The Croatian government's delegation and local Serb representatives signed the Economic Agreement in Zagreb and in Knin. Along with the agreement document both delegations received a letter signed by ICFY co-chairmen David Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, as well as by ambassadors Peter W. Galbraith of the U.S. and Leonid Kerestedzhiyants of Russia. They expressed intentions to resume the negotiating process on political issues within the framework of the Vance plan and of all relevant UN SC Resolutions. December 9, 1994 - The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on the situation in the occupied areas of Croatia which reaffirmed the territorial integrity of Croatia within its internationally recognized borders and specified that the UNPAs were de facto occupied parts of the Republic of Croatia. December 21, 1994 - The stretch of the Zagreb-Lipovac highway passing through UN Sectors West and East was opened in accordance with the December 2 agreement. January 12, 1995 - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman forwarded a letter to UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, informing him of Croatia's decision to terminate the UNPROFOR mandate on March 31, 1995. The letter said that in the beginning, UNPROFOR had played an important role in bringing about the end of hostilities in Croatia and the withdrawal of the JNA, but that it had failed to implement the most important provisions of the Vance plan and Security Council resolutions, including the demilitarization of the UNPAs, the return of displaced persons and the supervision of Croatia's international borders. President Tudjman wrote that the current situation in the occupied areas was unacceptable to Croatia. January 17, 1995 - The UN Secretary General submitted a report to the Security Council expressing concern about the possible re-eruption of war after UNPROFOR's withdrawal from Croatia and the hope that the Croatian government reconsiderd its decision. He stressed that substantial progress had been made in the peace process, namely the ceasefire agreement and the economic agreement. At the same time Boutros-Ghali admitted that UNPROFOR had failed to deploy international observers along Croatia's borders with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. January 26, 1995 - The northern section of the Adriatic oil pipeline, a part of which passes through UN Sector North, was opened. January 30, 1995 - The Zagreb-4 contact group presented a draft plan on a political solution to the problem of the reintegration of occupied Croatian territories. Croatia agreed to consider the plan while Knin authorities refused to receive it unless they had Security Council guarantees that the UNPROFOR mandate would be extended after March 31. February/March 1995 - The international community intensified diplomatic efforts to pressure Croatia into reversing its decision on ending the UNPROFOR mandate. March 12, 1995 - After meeting in Copenhagen with US Vice President Al Gore, President Tudjman announced that Croatia, in line with its peaceful policy, agreed to further international presence on its territory with a new UN mandate. At the same time Croatia stood by its decision to terminate the UNPROFOR mandate when it expired on March 31. The Copenhagen deal envisaged the following key elements of the new UN mandate for Croatia: - control of Croatia's international borders with Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina; - further implementation of the Zagreb ceasefire agreement, the economic agreement and future agreements aimed at the reintegration of Croatia, and the implementation of relevant UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions; - control of access routes and communications for UNPROFOR's operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina through areas temporarily not under Croatian control. March 22, 1995 - President Tudjman wrote a letter to Boutros-Ghali to explain Croatia's position on the Vance plan and the new UN mandate for Croatia. March 24, 1995 - The UN Secretary General submitted a report to the Security Council on the new mandate of UN forces in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. March 27, 1995 - Croatian Foreign Minister, Mate Granic sent a letter to Boutros-Ghali expressing dissatisfaction with his report, because: - it was unbalanced and did not reflect the situation in Croatia; - it repeatedly referred to documents which were several years old and did not take into account more recent developments; - it did not address the most important elements of the Vance plan, particularly the need for refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes; - the mandate it proposed did not substantially differ from the expiring one; - it implicitely placed on equal footing the Knin insurgent authorities and the Croatian government; - the name of the new UN operation did not include the reference to Croatia; - it did not even suggest the reliable control of Croatia's international borders. UNPROFOR - FACTS AND FIGURES UNPROFOR is the biggest, the most expensive and the most complex peace operation in the history of the United Nations. Its goals were both of a military and civilian nature: to keep the peace and build confidence between the warring sides to help achieve a final political solution and restore normal life to Croatia, where it was deployed. The annual costs of the UNPROFOR operation have been estimated at US$1.2 million. Since the beginning of the UNPROFOR mandate, the number of UN peace-keepers in Croatia has increased to currently include 15,479 men. The military contingent includes troops from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Ukraine, Poland, Jordan, the Czech Republic, Kenya, Canada, Belgium, Russia, Argentina and Nepal. During the UNPROFOR mandate in Croatia 56 peace-keepers have been killed and 506 wounded. An advance party led by the first Force Commander, Gen. Satish Nambiar of India, arrived in Croatia March 8, 1992. to prepare the deployment of the UN Protection Force. On April 7, 1992, the Security Council passed Resolution 749 on the full deployment of the UN Protection Force. The number of UNPROFOR personnel, including military, police and civilian staff, totalled about 14 thousand people from 29 countries. The arrival of UN peace-keepers marked the end of the spread of hostilities in Croatia. The arrival also played an important role in the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army (JNA) from Croatia and allowed humanitarian agencies to carry out their work. UN forces were deployed in three specific UN Protected Areas in Croatia which were sub-divided into four sectors: East, West, North and South. Headquarters were originally in Sarajevo. When war broke out in Bosnia-Herzegovina, headquarters was transferred first to Belgrade and then, to Zagreb in August 1992. The first UN Secretary-General's Special Representative was Cyrus Vance from the United States, whose Plan was taken as a basis for the UN peace-keeping operation. In August 1993, the International Peace Conference on Former Yugoslavia (ICFY) took over from the London Conference. The ICFY was headed by two co-chairmen, Lord David Owen representing the European Union (and who took over from Lord Peter Carrington) and Cyrus Vance on behalf of the United Nations. In May 1993, Norway's Thorvald Stoltenberg replaced Cyrus Vance as co-chairman of the Peace Conference and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in former Yugoslavia. In January 1994, the UN Secretary-General appointed Japan's Yasushi Akashi as Special Representative, he had established a reputation as a successful peace-keeper after the Cambodia operation. The first UN Force Commander was Gen. Satish Nambiar from India, who had served from March 1992 to March 1993. He was succeeded by Gen. Lars Eric Wahlgren of Sweden, who held the post for just three months before learning of his discharge in the media. Then there were three consecutive French commanders. The first was Gen. Jean Cot (June 1993 - March 1994), followed by Gen. Bertrand de Sauville de Lapresle (March 1994 - March 1995) and the current commander, Gen. Bertrand Janvier (March 1995 - ) The UNPROFOR command in Croatia existed from Feb 1, 1994, pursuant to UNSC Resolution 871. The first UN Commander in Croatia was Jordanian Gen. A. Ghazi Tayyeb. He was replaced by a fellow-countryman, Maj. Gen. Eid Kamel Al-Roldan on January 19, 1995. The UNPROFOR Civil Department deals with political, legal and humanitarian issues. Its chief tasks include mediating between the sides, dealing with economic issues, helping prisoners and refugees, organising exchanges of POWs and securing the unimpeded passage of relief convoys. First to head this department was Cedric Thornbery of Ireland, followed by Sergio Vieira de Mello of Brazil and Michel Moussali of Switzerland, who currently holds the post. Besides UNPROFOR's civil and military departments, several relief and other international agencies took part in the UN peacekeeping operation in Croatia. They include the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Culture and Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the European Union Task Force (ECTF). WILLIAMS ON SUCCESS OF UNPROFOR MISSION The UN Protection Force was successful in part in implementing its mandate in Croatia. The key difficulty in the full implementation of the peacekeeping task was lack of cooperation from the Serb side, the spokesman for the UN special representative to the former Yugoslavia, Michael Williams, told Hina in an interview. The current UNPROFOR mandate in Croatia is based on a plan devised by the UN secretary general's former personal envoy to the former Yugoslavia, Cyrus Vance. Its key elements include: the withdrawal of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) from Croatia, the demilitarization of UN Protected Areas (UNPAs), the return of displaced persons and the temporary functioning under U.N. supervision of local authorities and police - the composition of which was to have been proportional to the prewar population structure. Demilitarization was successful only as far as the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia but it failed in terms of the Krajina Serb forces. The basic difficulty in fully implementing the mandate lies in the absence of cooperation from Serb authorities in Knin. I understand the disappointment of the Croatian side with the lack of progress in the implementation of the Vance plan. This was undoubtedly why President Tudjman decided in January to say that it was enough, Wiliams said. However, I must say that certain progress has been made in the last few months, and this refers particularly to the economic agreement. It has been consistently applied by both parties, meaning the Serbs as well. In retrospect, it is regrettable that it did not happen much earlier because, I suppose, it would have created a better atmosphere and perhaps would have enabled other tasks to be carried out, he said. Williams was hopeful that a new UN mandate, which would mean a break with UNPROFOR, would be more realistic and more applicable and that it would be fulfilled in cooperation with the Croatian government. The new mode of UN presence in Croatia will strengthen UNPROFOR's position in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is particularly important because of access to the Bihac pocket which is much closer to Zagreb than Sarajevo, Williams said. He stressed that President Tudjman's decision to extend the UN presence gave Croatia full respect from the international community because everyone knew it was not an easy decision to make. Asked to comment on the functioning of parallel UN missions in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Williams said he presumed that the main headquarters of the UN Protection Forces would remain in Zagreb, which the Croatian government had agreed to. He added that it would not be practical financially, logisiticaly and politically to have two main headquarters, one for the new UN mission in Croatia and the other for UNPROFOR. Yasushi Akashi would probably continue to hold his current post, but the new UN mission in Croatia would have separate civilian and military personnel, Williams said. Apart from providing support to UNPROFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the new UN mission in Croatia would also have an important role in the application of the ceasefire and economic agreements, which President Tudjman had promised Croatia would adhere to, Williams said. The third important point of the new plan for Croatia is the deployment of UN troops to supervise Croatia's borders with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). There may be a few additional provisions such as the protection of minorities, mainly Croats who were in the current UNPAs, which would cease to exist when the new mandate came into effect, Williams concluded. (hina) mar jn as vm mm rm bk silvia 301232 MET mar 95