Хорватская война за независимость была вооружённым конфликтом , который велся с 1991 по 1995 год между хорватскими силами, лояльными правительству Хорватии , которое провозгласило независимость от Социалистической Федеративной Республики Югославии (СФРЮ), и контролируемой сербами Югославской народной армией (ЮНА) и местными сербскими силами. ЮНА завершила свои боевые действия в Хорватии к 1992 году. [I]
Большинство хорватов поддержали независимость Хорватии от Югославии, в то время как многие этнические сербы , проживающие в Хорватии, поддерживаемые Сербией , [28] [29] выступили против отделения и выступали за то, чтобы земли, на которые претендовали сербы, были в общем государстве с Сербией. Большинство сербов стремились к созданию нового сербского государства в рамках югославской федерации, включая районы Хорватии и Боснии и Герцеговины с этническим сербским большинством или значительным меньшинством, [30] [31] и пытались завоевать как можно большую часть Хорватии. [32] [33] [34] Хорватия провозгласила независимость 25 июня 1991 года, но согласилась отложить ее с помощью Брионского соглашения и разорвала все оставшиеся связи с Югославией 8 октября 1991 года.
Первоначально ЮНА пыталась удержать Хорватию в составе Югославии, оккупировав всю Хорватию. [35] [36] После того, как это не удалось, сербские силы создали самопровозглашенное протогосударство Республика Сербская Краина (РСК) в Хорватии, что началось с Революции Лога . После прекращения огня в январе 1992 года и международного признания Республики Хорватия как суверенного государства, [37] [38] линии фронта были укреплены, были развернуты Силы ООН по охране (СООНО), [39] и боевые действия стали в значительной степени прерывистыми в последующие три года. За это время РСК охватывала 13 913 квадратных километров (5372 квадратных миль), более четверти Хорватии. [40] В 1995 году Хорватия начала два крупных наступления, известных как Операция «Вспышка» и Операция «Шторм» ; [12] [41] эти наступления фактически завершили войну в ее пользу. Оставшаяся зона Временного органа ООН для Восточной Славонии, Бараньи и Западного Срема (UNTAES) была мирно реинтегрирована в Хорватию к 1998 году. [13] [17]
Война закончилась победой Хорватии, поскольку она достигла целей, которые она объявила в начале войны: независимость и сохранение своих границ. [12] [13] Примерно 21–25% экономики Хорватии было разрушено, с оценкой в 37 миллиардов долларов США поврежденной инфраструктуры, потерянного производства и расходов, связанных с беженцами. [42] Более 20 000 человек были убиты в войне, [43] и беженцы были перемещены с обеих сторон. Сербское и хорватское правительства начали постепенно сотрудничать друг с другом, но напряженность сохраняется, отчасти из-за вердиктов Международного уголовного трибунала по бывшей Югославии (МТБЮ) и судебных исков, поданных каждой страной против другой . [44] [45]
В 2007 году Международный трибунал по бывшей Югославии (МТБЮ) вынес обвинительный приговор Милану Мартичу , одному из сербских лидеров в Хорватии, за сговор со Слободаном Милошевичем и другими с целью создания «единого сербского государства». [46] В период с 2008 по 2012 год МТБЮ преследовал хорватских генералов Анте Готовину , Младена Маркача и Ивана Чермака за предполагаемую причастность к преступлениям, связанным с операцией «Шторм» . Чермак был полностью оправдан, а приговоры Готовине и Маркачу были позже отменены Апелляционной комиссией МТБЮ. [47] [48] Международный суд отклонил взаимные иски о геноциде со стороны Хорватии и Сербии в 2015 году. Суд подтвердил, что в определенной степени преступления против гражданских лиц имели место, но постановил, что конкретного намерения совершить геноцид не было. [49]
В 1970-х годах социалистический режим Югославии был серьезно расколот на либерально-децентралистскую националистическую фракцию во главе с Хорватией и Словенией, которая поддерживала децентрализованную федерацию, чтобы предоставить большую автономию Хорватии и Словении, против консервативно-централистской националистической фракции во главе с Сербией, которая поддерживала централизованную федерацию, чтобы обеспечить интересы Сербии и сербов по всей Югославии — поскольку они были крупнейшей этнической группой в стране в целом. [50] С 1967 по 1972 год в Хорватии и протесты 1968 и 1981 годов в Косово , националистические доктрины и действия вызвали этническую напряженность, которая дестабилизировала Югославию. [51] Считается, что подавление националистов государством имело эффект идентификации хорватского национализма как основной альтернативы самому коммунизму и сделало его сильным подпольным движением. [52]
В Югославии наступил кризис с ослаблением коммунистических государств в Восточной Европе к концу холодной войны , что символизировало падение Берлинской стены в 1989 году. В Хорватии региональное отделение Союза коммунистов Югославии , Союз коммунистов Хорватии , утратило свою идеологическую силу. [53] [54] Словения и Хорватия выступали за децентрализацию . [55] СР Сербия во главе со Слободаном Милошевичем придерживалась централизма и однопартийного правления и, в свою очередь, фактически покончила с автономией автономных краев Косово и Воеводина к марту 1989 года, взяв под контроль их голоса в югославском федеральном президентстве . [29] [54] [56] [57] Националистические идеи начали приобретать влияние в рядах все еще правящей Лиги коммунистов, в то время как речи Милошевича, особенно речь в Газиместане 1989 года , в которой он говорил о «битвах и ссорах», выступали за продолжение единого югославского государства — такого, в котором вся власть по-прежнему будет централизована в Белграде . [29] [58] [59]
Осенью 1989 года сербское правительство оказало давление на хорватское правительство, чтобы оно разрешило провести серию сербских националистических митингов в стране, а сербские СМИ и различные сербские интеллектуалы уже начали называть хорватское руководство « усташами » и начали ссылаться на геноцид и другие преступления, совершенные усташами в период с 1941 по 1945 год. Сербское политическое руководство одобрило риторику и обвинило хорватское руководство в «слепом национализме», когда оно возразило. [60]
Завершив антибюрократическую революцию в Воеводине , Косово и Черногории, Сербия получила четыре из восьми голосов на выборах федерального президента в 1991 году, [58] что сделало руководящий орган неэффективным, поскольку другие республики возражали и призывали к реформе Федерации. [61] В 1989 году были разрешены политические партии, и ряд из них был основан, включая Хорватский демократический союз ( хорв .: Hrvatska demokratska zajednica ) (HDZ) во главе с Франьо Туджманом , который позже стал первым президентом Хорватии . [62] Туджман баллотировался на националистической платформе [63] с программой «национального примирения» между хорватскими коммунистами и бывшими усташами (фашистами), являющейся ключевым компонентом политической программы его партии. [64] Соответственно, он также интегрировал бывших членов усташей в партийный и государственный аппарат. [65]
В январе 1990 года Союз коммунистов распался по этническому признаку, и хорватская и словенская фракции потребовали более свободной федерации на 14-м Чрезвычайном съезде. На съезде сербские делегаты обвинили хорватских и словенских делегатов в «поддержке сепаратизма, терроризма и геноцида в Косово». [66] Хорватская и словенская делегации, включая большинство своих этнических сербских членов, в конечном итоге покинули собрание в знак протеста после того, как сербские делегаты отклонили все предложенные поправки. [58] [67]
Январь 1990 года также ознаменовал начало судебных дел, переданных в Конституционный суд Югославии по вопросу отделения. [68] Первым было дело о поправках к Конституции Словении после того, как Словения заявила о праве на одностороннее отделение в соответствии с правом на самоопределение. [69] Конституционный суд постановил, что отделение от федерации допускается только при наличии единогласного согласия республик и автономных краев Югославии. [68] Конституционный суд отметил, что в разделе I Основных принципов Конституции 1974 года указано, что самоопределение, включая отделение, «принадлежит народам Югославии и их социалистических республик». [68] Вопрос отделения Косово был рассмотрен в мае 1991 года, когда суд заявил, что «только народы Югославии» имеют право на отделение, албанцы считаются меньшинством, а не народом Югославии. [68]
Опрос 1990 года, проведенный среди граждан Югославии, показал, что этническая враждебность существовала в небольших масштабах. [70] По сравнению с результатами 25-летней давности, Хорватия была республикой с самым высоким ростом этнической дистанции. Кроме того, наблюдалось значительное увеличение этнической дистанции среди сербов и черногорцев по отношению к хорватам и словенцам и наоборот. [70] Из всех опрошенных 48% хорватов заявили, что их принадлежность к Югославии очень важна для них. [70]
В феврале 1990 года Йован Рашкович основал Сербскую демократическую партию (СДП) в Книне , программа которой была направлена на изменение регионального деления Хорватии в соответствии с интересами этнических сербов. [71] Видные члены правительства РСК, включая Милана Бабича и Милана Мартича , позже свидетельствовали, что Белград руководил пропагандистской кампанией, изображавшей сербов в Хорватии как находящихся под угрозой геноцида со стороны хорватского большинства. [72] 4 марта 1990 года 50 000 сербов собрались на Петровой Горе и выкрикивали негативные высказывания в адрес Туджмана, [71] скандировали «Это Сербия» [71] и выражали поддержку Милошевичу. [73] [74]
Первые свободные выборы в Хорватии и Словении были запланированы на несколько месяцев позже. [75] Первый тур выборов в Хорватии состоялся 22 апреля, а второй тур — 6 мая. [76] ХДС основывала свою кампанию на большем суверенитете (в конечном итоге полной независимости) для Хорватии, подогревая среди хорватов мнение, что «только ХДС может защитить Хорватию от стремлений Милошевича к Великой Сербии». Она возглавила опрос на выборах (за ней следовали реформированные коммунисты Ивицы Рачана , Социал-демократическая партия Хорватии ) и должна была сформировать новое хорватское правительство . [76]
Напряженная атмосфера царила 13 мая 1990 года, когда в Загребе на стадионе Максимир проходил футбольный матч между загребским « Динамо » и белградской «Црвеной Звездой» . Игра вылилась в насилие между хорватскими и сербскими болельщиками и полицией. [77]
30 мая 1990 года новый хорватский парламент провел свою первую сессию. Президент Туджман объявил свой манифест о новой конституции (ратифицированной в конце года) и множестве политических, экономических и социальных изменений, в частности, о том, в какой степени будут гарантированы права меньшинств (в основном сербов). Местные сербские политики выступили против новой конституции. В 1991 году хорваты составляли 78,1%, а сербы 12,2% от общей численности населения Хорватии, [78] но последние занимали непропорционально большое количество официальных должностей: 17,7% назначенных должностных лиц в Хорватии, включая полицию, были сербами. Еще большую долю этих должностей ранее занимали сербы в Хорватии, что создало впечатление, что сербы являются хранителями коммунистического режима. [79] Сербский политик и социолог Весна Пешич утверждает, что это вызвало недовольство среди хорватов, но на самом деле никогда не подрывало их собственное господство в СР Хорватии. [53] После прихода к власти ХДС многие сербы, работавшие в государственном секторе, особенно в полиции, были уволены и заменены хорватами. [80] Это, в сочетании с замечаниями Туджмана, например, «Слава Богу, моя жена не еврейка и не сербка», [81] были искажены СМИ Милошевича, чтобы вызвать страх, что любая форма независимой Хорватии станет новым « государством усташей ». В одном случае телевидение Белграда показало, как Туджман пожимает руку канцлеру Германии Гельмуту Колю (который станет первым лидером правительства в мире, признавшим независимую Хорватию и Словению), обвиняя их в заговоре с целью создания «Четвертого рейха». [82] [83] Помимо увольнения многих сербов с должностей в государственном секторе, еще одной проблемой среди сербов, проживающих в Хорватии, была публичная демонстрация ХДС шаховницы ( хорватской шахматной доски) на хорватском гербе , которая ассоциировалась с фашистским режимом усташей. [84] Это было заблуждением, поскольку шахматная доска имела историю, уходящую корнями в пятнадцатый век, и не была идентична той, которая использовалась в Независимом государстве Хорватия во время Второй мировой войны . [85] Однако ксенофобская риторика Туджмана и его отношение к хорватским сербам, а также его поддержка бывших лидеров усташей мало способствовали ослаблению страхов сербов. [86] [87] [88]
Сразу после парламентских выборов в Словении и парламентских выборов в Хорватии в апреле и мае 1990 года ЮНА объявила, что доктрина эпохи Тито о «всеобщей народной обороне», в которой каждая республика содержала Территориальные силы обороны ( сербско-хорватский : Teritorijalna obrana ) (ТО), отныне будет заменена централизованно управляемой системой обороны. Республики потеряют свою роль в вопросах обороны, а их ТО будут разоружены и подчинены штаб-квартире ЮНА в Белграде, но новое словенское правительство действовало быстро, чтобы сохранить контроль над своими ТО. [89] 14 мая 1990 года оружие ТО Хорватии в регионах с хорватским большинством было изъято ЮНА, [90] предотвратив возможность того, что Хорватия будет иметь свое собственное оружие, как это было сделано в Словении. [91] [92] Борисав Йович , представитель Сербии в Федеральном президентстве и близкий союзник Слободана Милошевича, заявил, что эти действия были предприняты по указанию Сербии. [93]
По словам Йовича, 27 июня 1990 года он и Велько Кадиевич , министр обороны Югославии, встретились и договорились, что они должны, в отношении Хорватии и Словении, «насильно изгнать их из Югославии, просто очертив границы и заявив, что они сами навлекли это на себя своими решениями». По словам Йовича, на следующий день он получил согласие Милошевича. [94] Однако Кадиевич, имеющий смешанное сербско-хорватское происхождение и югославский партизан во Второй мировой войне , был лоялен к Югославии, а не к Великой Сербии; Кадиевич считал, что если Словения выйдет из Югославии, государство рухнет, и поэтому он обсуждал с Йовичем возможность использования ЮНА для введения военного положения в Словении, чтобы предотвратить этот потенциальный крах, и был готов вести войну с сепаратистскими республиками, чтобы предотвратить их отделение. [95] Кадиевич считал, что политический кризис и этнический конфликт были вызваны действиями иностранных правительств, в частности Германии, которую он обвинил в стремлении расколоть Югославию, чтобы позволить Германии осуществлять сферу влияния на Балканах. [96] Кадиевич считал хорватское правительство Туджмана вдохновленным фашизмом и что сербы имеют право на защиту от хорватских «вооруженных формирований». [96]
После выборов Туджмана и ХДС, 25 июля 1990 года в Србе , к северу от Книна, была создана Сербская скупщина как политическое представительство сербского народа в Хорватии. Сербская скупщина провозгласила «суверенитет и автономию сербского народа в Хорватии». [97]
Новое хорватское правительство проводило политику, которая рассматривалась как откровенно националистическая и антисербская по своей природе, например, удаление сербской кириллицы из корреспонденции в государственных учреждениях. [98] [99]
Большие сербские круги не заинтересованы в защите сербского народа, живущего ни в Хорватии, ни в Боснии, ни где-либо еще. Если бы это было так, то мы могли бы посмотреть и посмотреть, что есть в хорватской конституции , посмотреть, что есть в декларации о меньшинствах, о сербах в Хорватии и о меньшинствах, потому что сербы там рассматриваются отдельно. Давайте посмотрим, имеют ли сербы меньше прав, чем хорваты в Хорватии. Это было бы защитой сербов в Хорватии. Но это не то, чего добиваются. Господа, им нужна территория.
— Степан Месич о намерениях Белграда в войне [100]
В августе 1990 года в регионах со значительным сербским населением, которые позже стали известны как Республика Сербская Краина (РСК) (граничащая с западной Боснией и Герцеговиной ), был проведен непризнанный моноэтнический референдум по вопросу о сербском «суверенитете и автономии» в Хорватии. [101] Это была попытка противостоять изменениям, внесенным в конституцию. Хорватское правительство направило полицейские силы в полицейские участки в районах, населенных сербами, чтобы конфисковать их оружие. Среди других инцидентов местные сербы из южных внутренних районов Хорватии, в основном вокруг города Книн , заблокировали дороги к туристическим местам в Далмации. Этот инцидент известен как « Революция бревен ». [102] [103] Спустя годы, во время суда над Мартичем, Бабич утверждал, что Мартич обманом заставил его согласиться на Революцию бревен, и что она и вся война в Хорватии были ответственностью Мартича и были организованы Белградом. [104] Это заявление было подтверждено Мартичем в интервью, опубликованном в 1991 году. [105] Бабич подтвердил, что к июлю 1991 года Милошевич взял под контроль Югославскую народную армию (ЮНА). [106] Хорватское правительство отреагировало на блокаду дорог, отправив на место происшествия специальные полицейские группы на вертолетах, но были перехвачены истребителями ВВС Югославии SFR и вынуждены были повернуть обратно в Загреб . Сербы вырубали сосны или использовали бульдозеры, чтобы заблокировать дороги, чтобы заблокировать такие города, как Книн и Бенковац недалеко от побережья Адриатического моря . 18 августа 1990 года сербская газета Večernje novosti заявила, что «почти два миллиона сербов готовы отправиться в Хорватию, чтобы сражаться». [102]
21 декабря 1990 года муниципалитетами регионов Северная Далмация и Лика на юго-западе Хорватии была провозглашена САО Краина . Статья 1 Устава САО Краина определяла САО Краина как «форму территориальной автономии в составе Республики Хорватия», в которой применялись Конституция Республики Хорватия, государственные законы и Устав САО Краина. [97] [107]
22 декабря 1990 года парламент Хорватии ратифицировал новую конституцию, [108] которая, по мнению сербов, отнимала права, предоставленные социалистической конституцией. [109] Конституция определяла Хорватию как «национальное государство хорватской нации и государство представителей других наций и меньшинств, которые являются его гражданами: сербов... которым гарантируется равенство с гражданами хорватской национальности...» [97]
После избрания Туджмана и осознания угрозы со стороны новой конституции [108] сербские националисты в регионе Книнска Краина начали предпринимать вооруженные действия против хорватских правительственных чиновников. Хорватская государственная собственность по всему региону все больше контролировалась местными сербскими муниципалитетами или недавно созданным «Сербским национальным советом». Позднее это стало правительством отколовшейся Республики Сербская Краина (РСК). [97]
После того, как в январе 1991 года было обнаружено, что Мартин Шпегель проводил кампанию по приобретению оружия на черном рынке, был выдвинут ультиматум с требованием разоружить и расформировать хорватские вооруженные силы, которые югославские власти считали незаконными. [110] [111] Хорватские власти отказались подчиниться, и югославская армия отозвала ультиматум через шесть дней после его выдвижения. [112] [113]
12 марта 1991 года руководство армии встретилось с Президентом СФРЮ , пытаясь убедить их объявить чрезвычайное положение , которое позволило бы армии взять под контроль страну. Командующий югославской армией Велько Кадиевич заявил, что существует заговор с целью уничтожения страны, заявив:
Разработан коварный план по уничтожению Югославии. Первый этап — гражданская война. Второй этап — иностранная интервенция. Затем по всей Югославии будут установлены марионеточные режимы.
- Велько Кадиевич, 12 марта 1991 г. [114]
Йович утверждает, что Кадиевич и армия в марте 1991 года поддержали государственный переворот как способ выхода из кризиса, но затем передумали четыре дня спустя. [115] Кадиевич ответил на это, что «Йович лжет». [115] Кадиевич утверждает, что его пригласили на встречу в марте 1991 года в офис Йовича, через два дня после массовых протестов, организованных Вуком Драшковичем на улицах Белграда, где Милошевич, по словам Кадиевича, потребовал, чтобы армия взяла под контроль страну посредством военного переворота. [115] Очевидным ответом Кадиевича было сообщить Милошевичу, что он не может принять такое решение самостоятельно, и что он обсудит запрос с лидерами армии, а затем сообщит в офис Йовича об их решении. [115] Кадиевич затем сказал, что их решение было против путча и что он сообщил об этом в офис Йовича в письменной форме. [115] Йович утверждает, что такого документа не существует. [115]
Анте Маркович описал, что после того, как встреча Президиума не достигла желаемых армией результатов, Кадиевич встретился с ним и предложил государственный переворот против сепаратистских республик. [116] Во время встречи Маркович ответил Кадиевичу, заявив, что план арестовать Милошевича провалился. [116] Кадиевич ответил: «Он всего лишь один, кто сражается за Югославию. Без него мы не смогли бы это предложить». Маркович отверг план, и после этого общение между Кадиевичем и Марковичем прервалось. [116]
Первоначально ЮНА была сформирована во время Второй мировой войны для ведения партизанской войны против оккупационных сил Оси . Успех партизанского движения привел к тому, что ЮНА стала основывать большую часть своей оперативной стратегии на партизанской войне, поскольку ее планы обычно подразумевали защиту от атак НАТО или Варшавского договора , тогда как другие виды войны поставили бы ЮНА в сравнительно невыгодное положение. Такой подход привел к поддержанию системы территориальной обороны . [117]
На бумаге ЮНА казалась мощной силой с 2000 танков и 300 реактивных самолетов (в основном советского или местного производства). Однако к 1991 году большая часть этой техники была 30-летней давности, так как силы состояли в основном из танков Т-54/55 и самолетов МиГ-21 . [118] Тем не менее, ЮНА эксплуатировала около 300 танков М-84 (югославская версия советского Т-72 ) и значительный парк штурмовиков , таких как Soko G-4 Super Galeb и Soko J-22 Orao , вооружение которых включало управляемые ракеты AGM-65 Maverick . [119] Напротив, более современные дешевые противотанковые ракеты (например, AT-5 ) и зенитные ракеты (например, SA-14 ) были в изобилии и были разработаны для уничтожения гораздо более современного оружия. До войны в ЮНА было 169 000 регулярных войск, включая 70 000 профессиональных офицеров . Бои в Словении привели к большому количеству дезертирств, и армия ответила мобилизацией сербских резервных войск. Около 100 000 уклонились от призыва , а новые призывники оказались неэффективной боевой силой. ЮНА прибегла к опоре на нерегулярные ополчения . [120] Военизированные формирования, такие как Белые орлы , Сербская гвардия , Душан Силни и Сербская добровольческая гвардия , которые совершили ряд расправ над хорватами и другими несербскими гражданскими лицами, все чаще использовались югославскими и сербскими силами. [121] [122] Были также иностранные бойцы, поддерживающие РСК, в основном из России . [123] С отступлением сил ЮНА в 1992 году, подразделения ЮНА были реорганизованы в Армию Сербской Краины , которая была прямой наследницей организации ЮНА, с небольшими улучшениями. [6] [124]
К 1991 году в офицерском корпусе ЮНА преобладали сербы и черногорцы ; они были чрезмерно представлены в югославских федеральных учреждениях, особенно в армии. 57,1% офицеров ЮНА были сербами , в то время как сербы составляли 36,3% населения Югославии. [79] Подобная структура наблюдалась уже в 1981 году. [125] Несмотря на то, что оба народа вместе составляли 38,8% населения Югославии, 70% всех офицеров и унтер-офицеров ЮНА были либо сербами, либо черногорцами. [126] В июле 1991 года ЮНА получила указание «полностью исключить хорватов и словенцев из армии», большинство из которых уже начали массово дезертировать. [ почему? ] [127]
Хорватские военные были в гораздо худшем состоянии, чем сербские. На ранних этапах войны нехватка воинских частей означала, что хорватская полиция примет на себя основную тяжесть боевых действий. Хорватская национальная гвардия ( хорв . Zbor narodne garde ), новые хорватские военные, была сформирована 11 апреля 1991 года и постепенно превратилась в хорватскую армию ( хорв . Hrvatska vojska ) к 1993 году. Оружия не хватало, и многие подразделения были либо безоружны, либо были оснащены устаревшими винтовками времен Второй мировой войны. Хорватская армия имела лишь несколько танков, включая излишки техники Второй мировой войны, такие как Т-34 , а ее военно-воздушные силы были в еще худшем состоянии, состоя из всего нескольких бипланов -кукурузников Антонов Ан-2 , которые были переоборудованы для сбрасывания самодельных бомб. [128] [129]
В августе 1991 года хорватская армия насчитывала менее 20 бригад . После всеобщей мобилизации в октябре численность армии к концу года выросла до 60 бригад и 37 отдельных батальонов. [130] [131] В 1991 и 1992 годах Хорватию также поддерживали 456 иностранных бойцов, включая британцев (139), французов (69) и немцев (55). [132] Захват казарм ЮНА в период с сентября по декабрь помог смягчить нехватку оборудования у хорватов. [133] [134] К 1995 году баланс сил существенно изменился. Сербские силы в Хорватии и Боснии и Герцеговине были способны выставить на поле боя примерно 130 000 солдат; Хорватская армия, Хорватский совет обороны ( хорв . Hrvatsko vijeće obrane ) (ХВО) и армия Республики Боснии и Герцеговины могли бы выставить объединенные силы численностью 250 000 солдат и 570 танков. [135] [136]
Этническая ненависть росла, поскольку различные инциденты подпитывали пропагандистские машины с обеих сторон. Во время своих показаний в МТБЮ один из главных лидеров Краины Милан Мартич заявил, что сербская сторона первой начала применять силу. [137]
Конфликт перерос в вооруженные инциденты в районах, где большинство населения составляют сербы. Сербы атаковали хорватские полицейские подразделения в Пакраце в начале марта, [10] [138] в то время как Йосип Йович широко известен как первый полицейский, убитый сербскими силами в ходе войны, во время инцидента на Плитвицких озерах в конце марта 1991 года. [11] [139]
В марте и апреле 1991 года сербы в Хорватии начали предпринимать шаги по отделению от этой территории. Вопрос о том, в какой степени этот шаг был мотивирован местными силами и в какой степени в нем участвовало сербское правительство под руководством Милошевича, является предметом споров. В любом случае, была провозглашена САО Краина , которая включала в себя любую хорватскую территорию со значительным сербским населением. Хорватское правительство рассматривало этот шаг как мятеж. [97] [140] [141]
С начала Революции Лога и до конца апреля 1991 года было зафиксировано около 200 инцидентов с использованием взрывных устройств и 89 нападений на хорватскую полицию. [29] Министерство внутренних дел Хорватии начало вооружать все большее количество специальных полицейских сил, и это привело к созданию настоящей армии. 9 апреля 1991 года президент Хорватии Туджман приказал переименовать специальные полицейские силы в Zbor Narodne Garde («Национальная гвардия»); это знаменует создание отдельной армии Хорватии. [142]
Значительные столкновения этого периода включали осаду Киево , где более тысячи человек были осаждены в деревне Киево во внутренней Далмации, и убийства в Борово Село , где хорватские полицейские вступили в бой с сербскими военизированными формированиями в деревне Борово в Восточной Славонии и понесли потери в двенадцать человек. [143] Насилие охватило деревни Восточной Славонии: в Товарнике хорватский полицейский был убит сербскими военизированными формированиями 2 мая, а в Сотине сербский гражданский житель был убит 5 мая, попав под перекрестный огонь между сербскими и хорватскими военизированными формированиями. [143] 6 мая 1991 года протест в Сплите против осады Киево у командования ВМФ в Сплите привел к гибели солдата Югославской народной армии.
15 мая хорват Степан Месич должен был стать председателем ротационного президентства Югославии. Сербия, при поддержке Косово, Черногории и Воеводины, чьи президентские голоса в то время находились под контролем Сербии, заблокировала назначение, которое в остальном рассматривалось как в значительной степени церемониальное. Этот маневр технически оставил Югославию без главы государства и без главнокомандующего . [144] Два дня спустя повторная попытка проголосовать по этому вопросу провалилась. Анте Маркович , премьер-министр Югославии в то время, предложил назначить комиссию, которая будет обладать президентскими полномочиями. [145] Не было сразу ясно, кто войдет в комиссию, кроме министра обороны Велько Кадиевича , и кто займет должность главнокомандующего ЮНА. Этот шаг был быстро отвергнут Хорватией как неконституционный. [146] Кризис был разрешен после шестинедельного застоя, и Месич был избран президентом — первым некоммунистом, ставшим главой югославского государства за десятилетия. [147]
В течение всего этого периода федеральная армия, ЮНА и местные силы территориальной обороны продолжали находиться под руководством федеральных властей, контролируемых Милошевичем. Helsinki Watch сообщал, что власти Сербской Краины казнили сербов, которые были готовы достичь соглашения с хорватскими чиновниками. [29]
19 мая 1991 года хорватские власти провели референдум о независимости с возможностью остаться в составе Югославии в качестве более свободного союза. [148] Местные сербские власти выступили с призывами к бойкоту , которым в значительной степени последовали хорватские сербы. Референдум прошел с 94% голосов «за». [149]
Недавно сформированные хорватские военные части провели военный парад и смотр на стадионе Краньчевичева в Загребе 28 мая 1991 года. [150]
Парламент Хорватии провозгласил независимость Хорватии и прекратил ее связь с Югославией 25 июня 1991 года. [2] [151] Решение парламента Хорватии было частично бойкотировано левыми депутатами парламента. [152] Европейское сообщество и Совещание по безопасности и сотрудничеству в Европе призвали хорватские власти наложить трехмесячный мораторий на это решение. [153]
Правительство Югославии отреагировало на декларации независимости Хорватии и Словении тем, что премьер-министр Югославии Анте Маркович объявил отделения незаконными и противоречащими Конституции Югославии, и поддержало действия ЮНА по обеспечению целостного единства Югославии. [154]
В июне и июле 1991 года короткий вооруженный конфликт в Словении быстро завершился, отчасти из-за этнической однородности населения Словении. [151] Позже выяснилось, что военный удар по Словении, за которым последовал запланированный вывод войск, был задуман Слободаном Милошевичем и Борисавом Йовичем , тогдашним президентом СФРЮ. Йович опубликовал свой дневник, содержащий эту информацию, и повторил ее в своих показаниях на суде над Милошевичем в МТБЮ. [127]
Хорватия согласилась на Брионское соглашение , которое предусматривало заморозку ее декларации независимости на три месяца, что немного ослабило напряженность. [3]
In July, in an attempt to salvage what remained of Yugoslavia, JNA forces were involved in operations against predominantly Croat areas. In July the Serb-led Territorial Defence Forces started their advance on Dalmatian coastal areas in Operation Coast-91.[155] By early August, large areas of Banovina were overrun by Serb forces.[156]
With the start of military operations in Croatia, Croats and a number of Serbian conscripts started to desert the JNA en masse, similar to what had happened in Slovenia.[155][157] Albanians and Macedonians started to search for a way to legally leave the JNA or serve their conscription term in Macedonia; these moves further homogenized the ethnic composition of JNA troops in or near Croatia.[158]
One month after Croatia declared its independence, the Yugoslav army and other Serb forces held something less than one-third of the Croatian territory,[156] mostly in areas with a predominantly ethnic Serb population.[159][160] The JNA military strategy partly consisted of extensive shelling, at times irrespective of the presence of civilians.[161] As the war progressed, the cities of Dubrovnik, Gospić, Šibenik, Zadar, Karlovac, Sisak, Slavonski Brod, Osijek, Vinkovci, and Vukovar all came under attack by Yugoslav forces.[162][163][164][165] The United Nations (UN) imposed a weapons embargo; this did not affect JNA-backed Serb forces significantly, as they had the JNA arsenal at their disposal, but it caused serious trouble for the newly formed Croatian army. The Croatian government started smuggling weapons over its borders.[166][167]
We will soon gain control of Petrinja, Karlovac and Zadar because it has been shown that it is in our interest and the interest of the army to have a large port.
— Milan Martić, August 19, 1991, on the expansion of Republic of Serbian Krajina at Croatia's expense[105]
In August 1991, the Battle of Vukovar began.[168][169] Eastern Slavonia was gravely impacted throughout this period, starting with the Dalj massacre,[170] and fronts developed around Osijek and Vinkovci in parallel to the encirclement of Vukovar.[171][172][173][174] In September, Serbian troops completely surrounded the city of Vukovar. Croatian troops, including the 204th Vukovar Brigade, entrenched themselves within the city and held their ground against elite armored and mechanized brigades of the JNA, as well as Serb paramilitary units.[175][176] Vukovar was almost completely devastated; 15,000 houses were destroyed.[177] Some ethnic Croatian civilians had taken shelter inside the city. Other members of the civilian population fled the area en masse. Death toll estimates for Vukovar as a result of the siege range from 1,798 to 5,000.[122] A further 22,000 were exiled from Vukovar immediately after the town was captured.[177][178]
Some estimates include 220,000 Croats and 300,000 Serbs internally displaced for the duration of the war in Croatia.[24] In many areas, large numbers of civilians were forced out by the military. It was at this time that the term ethnic cleansing—the meaning of which ranged from eviction to murder—first entered the English lexicon.[179]
On October 3, the Yugoslav Navy renewed its blockade of the main ports of Croatia. This move followed months of standoff for JNA positions in Dalmatia and elsewhere now known as the Battle of the Barracks. It also coincided with the end of Operation Coast-91, in which the JNA failed to occupy the coastline in an attempt to cut off Dalmatia's access to the rest of Croatia.[180]
On October 5, President Tuđman made a speech in which he called upon the whole population to mobilize and defend against "Greater Serbian imperialism" pursued by the Serb-led JNA, Serbian paramilitary formations, and rebel Serb forces.[131] On 7 October, the Yugoslav air force attacked the main government building in Zagreb, an incident referred to as the bombing of the Banski Dvori.[181][182] The next day, as a previously agreed three-month moratorium on implementation of the declaration of independence expired, the Croatian Parliament severed all remaining ties with Yugoslavia. 8 October is now celebrated as Independence Day in Croatia.[4] The bombing of the government offices and the Siege of Dubrovnik that started in October[183] were contributing factors that led to European Union (EU) sanctions against Serbia.[184][185] On 15 October after the capture of Cavtat by the JNA, local Serbs led by Aco Apolonio proclaimed the Dubrovnik Republic.[186] The international media focused on the damage to Dubrovnik's cultural heritage; concerns about civilian casualties and pivotal battles such as the one in Vukovar were pushed out of public view. Nonetheless, artillery attacks on Dubrovnik damaged 56% of its buildings to some degree, as the historic walled city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sustained 650 hits by artillery rounds.[187]
In response to the 5th JNA Corps advance across the Sava River towards Pakrac and further north into western Slavonia,[188] the Croatian army began a successful counterattack in early November 1991, its first major offensive operation of the war. Operation Otkos 10 (31 October to 4 November) resulted in Croatia recapturing an area between the Bilogora and Papuk mountains.[189][190] The Croatian Army recaptured approximately 270 square kilometers (100 sq mi) of territory in this operation.[190]
The Vukovar massacre took place in November;[191][192] the survivors were transported to prison camps such as Ovčara and Velepromet, with the majority ending up in Sremska Mitrovica prison camp.[193] The sustained siege of Vukovar attracted heavy international media attention. Many international journalists were in or near Vukovar, as was UN peace mediator Cyrus Vance, who had been Secretary of State to former US President Carter.[194]
Also in eastern Slavonia, the Lovas massacre occurred in October[121][195] and the Erdut massacre in November 1991, before and after the fall of Vukovar.[196] At the same time, the Škabrnja massacre and Gospić massacre occurred in the Dalmatian hinterland.[197]
Croats became refugees in their own country.
— Mirko Kovač on the 10th anniversary of the end of the Croatian War[198]
On 14 November, the Navy blockade of Dalmatian ports was challenged by civilian ships. The confrontation culminated in the Battle of the Dalmatian channels, when Croatian coastal and island based artillery damaged, sank, or captured a number of Yugoslav navy vessels, including Mukos PČ 176, later rechristened PB 62 Šolta.[199] After the battle, the Yugoslav naval operations were effectively limited to the southern Adriatic.[200]
Croatian forces made further advances in the second half of December, including Operation Orkan 91. In the course of Orkan '91, the Croatian army recaptured approximately 1,440 square kilometers (560 sq mi) of territory.[190] The end of the operation marked the end of a six-month-long phase of intense fighting: 10,000 people had died; hundreds of thousands had fled and tens of thousands of homes had been destroyed.[201]
On December 19, as the intensity of the fighting increased, Croatia won its first diplomatic recognition by a western nation—Iceland—while the Serbian Autonomous Oblasts in Krajina and western Slavonia officially declared themselves the Republic of Serbian Krajina.[32] Four days later, Germany recognized Croatian independence.[37] On December 26, 1991, the Serb-dominated federal presidency announced plans for a smaller Yugoslavia that could include the territory captured from Croatia during the war.[33]
However, on December 21, 1991 for the first time in the war Istria was under attack.[202] The Serbian Forces attacked the airport near the city of Vrsar, situated in the south-western of the peninsula between the city of Poreč and Rovinj, with two MiG-21 and two Galeb G-2.[203] Afterwards, Yugoslav airplanes carpet bombed Vrsar's Crljenka airport, resulting in two deaths.[204] Mediated by foreign diplomats, ceasefires were frequently signed and frequently broken. Croatia lost much territory, but expanded the Croatian Army from the seven brigades it had at the time of the first ceasefire to 60 brigades and 37 independent battalions by December 31, 1991.[130]
The Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia, also referred to as Badinter Arbitration Committee, was set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) on August 27, 1991, to provide the Conference on Yugoslavia with legal advice. The five-member Commission consisted of presidents of Constitutional Courts in the EEC. Starting in late November 1991, the committee rendered ten opinions. The Commission stated, among other things, that SFR Yugoslavia was in the process of dissolution and that the internal boundaries of Yugoslav republics may not be altered unless freely agreed upon.[1]
Factors in favour of Croatia's preservation of its pre-war borders were the Yugoslav Federal Constitution Amendments of 1971, and the Yugoslav Federal Constitution of 1974. The 1971 amendments introduced a concept that sovereign rights were exercised by the federal units, and that the federation had only the authority specifically transferred to it by the constitution. The 1974 Constitution confirmed and strengthened the principles introduced in 1971.[205][206] The borders had been defined by demarcation commissions in 1947, pursuant to decisions of AVNOJ in 1943 and 1945 regarding the federal organization of Yugoslavia.[207]
A new UN-sponsored ceasefire, the fifteenth in just six months, was agreed on January 2, 1992, and came into force the next day.[6] This so-called Sarajevo Agreement became a lasting ceasefire. Croatia was officially recognized by the European Community on January 15, 1992.[37] Even though the JNA began to withdraw from Croatia, including Krajina, the RSK clearly retained the upper hand in the occupied territories due to support from Serbia.[124] By that time, the RSK encompassed 13,913 square kilometers (5,372 sq mi) of territory.[40] The area size did not encompass another 680 square kilometers (260 sq mi) of occupied territory near Dubrovnik, as that area was not considered part of the RSK.[208]
Ending the series of unsuccessful ceasefires, the UN deployed a protection force in Serbian-held Croatia—the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)—to supervise and maintain the agreement.[209] The UNPROFOR was officially created by UN Security Council Resolution 743 on February 21, 1992.[39] The warring parties mostly moved to entrenched positions, and the JNA soon retreated from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina, where a new conflict was anticipated.[6] Croatia became a member of the UN on May 22, 1992, which was conditional upon Croatia amending its constitution to protect the human rights of minority groups and dissidents.[38]Expulsions of the non-Serb civilian population remaining in the occupied territories continued despite the presence of the UNPROFOR peacekeeping troops, and in some cases, with UN troops being virtually enlisted as accomplices.[210]
The Yugoslav People's Army took thousands of prisoners during the war in Croatia, and interned them in camps in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. The Croatian forces also captured some Serbian prisoners, and the two sides agreed to several prisoner exchanges; most prisoners were freed by the end of 1992. Some infamous prisons included the Sremska Mitrovica camp, the Stajićevo camp, and the Begejci camp in Serbia, and the Morinj camp in Montenegro.[211] The Croatian Army also established detention camps, such as the Lora prison camp in Split.[211]
Armed conflict in Croatia continued intermittently on a smaller scale. There were several smaller operations undertaken by Croatian forces to relieve the siege of Dubrovnik, and other Croatian cities (Šibenik, Zadar and Gospić) from Krajina forces. Battles included the Miljevci plateau incident (between Krka and Drniš), on June 21–22, 1992,[212] Operation Jaguar at Križ Hill near Bibinje and Zadar, on May 22, 1992, and a series of military actions in the Dubrovnik hinterland: Operation Tigar, on 1–13 July 1992,[213] in Konavle, on 20–24 September 1992, and at Vlaštica on September 22–25, 1992. Combat near Dubrovnik was followed by the withdrawal of JNA from Konavle, between September 30 and October 20, 1992.[214] The Prevlaka peninsula guarding entrance to the Bay of Kotor was demilitarized and turned over to the UNPROFOR, while the remainder of Konavle was restored to the Croatian authorities.[215]
Fighting was renewed at the beginning of 1993, as the Croatian army launched Operation Maslenica, an offensive operation in the Zadar area on January 22. The objective of the attack was to improve the strategic situation in that area, as it targeted the city airport and the Maslenica Bridge,[216] the last entirely overland link between Zagreb and the city of Zadar until the bridge area was captured in September 1991.[217] The attack proved successful as it met its declared objectives,[218] but at a high cost, as 114 Croat and 490 Serb soldiers were killed in a relatively limited theater of operations.[219]
While Operation Maslenica was in progress, Croatian forces attacked Serb positions 130 kilometers (81 mi) to the east. They advanced towards the Peruća Hydroelectric Dam and captured it by January 28, 1993, shortly after Serb militiamen chased away the UN peacekeepers protecting the dam.[220] UN forces had been present at the site since the summer of 1992. They discovered that the Serbs had planted 35 to 37 tons of explosives spread over seven different sites on the dam in a way that prevented the explosives' removal; the charges were left in place.[220][221] Retreating Serb forces detonated three of explosive charges totaling 5 tons within the 65-meter (213 ft) high dam in an attempt to cause it to fail and flood the area downstream.[221][222] The disaster was prevented by Mark Nicholas Gray, a colonel in the British Royal Marines, a lieutenant at the time, who was a UN military observer at the site. He risked being disciplined for acting beyond his authority by lowering the reservoir level, which held 0.54 cubic kilometers (0.13 cu mi) of water, before the dam was blown up. His action saved the lives of 20,000 people who would otherwise have drowned or become homeless.[223]
Operation Medak Pocket took place in a salient south of Gospić, from September 9–17. The offensive was undertaken by the Croatian army to stop Serbian artillery in the area from shelling nearby Gospić.[224] The operation met its stated objective of removing the artillery threat, as Croatian troops overran the salient, but it was marred by war crimes. The ICTY later indicted Croatian officers for war crimes. The operation was halted amid international pressure, and an agreement was reached that the Croatian troops were to withdraw to positions held prior to September 9, while UN troops were to occupy the salient alone. The events that followed remain controversial, as Canadian authorities reported that the Croatian army intermittently fought against the advancing Canadian Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry before finally retreating after sustaining 27 fatalities.[225] The Croatian ministry of defense and UN officer's testimonies given during the Ademi-Norac trial deny that the battle occurred.[226][227][228][229]
On February 18, 1993, Croatian authorities signed the Daruvar Agreement with local Serb leaders in Western Slavonia. The aim of the secret agreement was normalizing life for local populations near the frontline. However, authorities in Knin learned of this and arrested the Serb leaders responsible.[232] In June 1993, Serbs began voting in a referendum on merging Krajina territory with Republika Srpska.[201] Milan Martić, acting as the RSK interior minister, advocated a merger of the "two Serbian states as the first stage in the establishment of a state of all Serbs" in his April 3 letter to the Assembly of the Republika Srpska. On January 21, 1994, Martić stated that he would "speed up the process of unification and pass on the baton to all Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević" if elected president of the RSK".[233] These intentions were countered by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 871 in October 1993, when the UNSC affirmed for the first time that the United Nations Protected Areas, i.e. the RSK held areas, were an integral part of the Republic of Croatia.[234]
During 1992 and 1993, an estimated 225,000 Croats, as well as refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, settled in Croatia. Croatian volunteers and some conscripted soldiers participated in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[235] In September 1992, Croatia had accepted 335,985 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of whom were Bosniak civilians (excluding men of drafting age).[236] The large number of refugees significantly strained the Croatian economy and infrastructure.[237] The American Ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, tried to put the number of Muslim refugees in Croatia into a proper perspective in an interview on 8 November 1993. He said the situation would be the equivalent of the United States taking in 30,000,000 refugees.[238]
In 1992, the Croat-Bosniak conflict erupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, just as each was fighting with the Bosnian Serbs. The war was originally fought between the Croatian Defence Council and Croatian volunteer troops on one side and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) on the other, but by 1994, the Croatian Army had an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 troops involved in the fighting.[239] Under pressure from the United States,[240] the belligerents agreed on a truce in late February,[241] followed by a meeting of Croatian, Bosnian, and Bosnian Croat representatives with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher in Washington, D.C., on February 26, 1994. On March 4, Franjo Tuđman endorsed the agreement providing for the creation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and an alliance between Bosnian and Croatian armies against the Serb forces.[7][242]This led to the dismantling of Herzeg-Bosnia and reduced the number of warring factions in Bosnia and Herzegovina from three to two.[243]
In late 1994, the Croatian Army intervened in Bosnia from November 1–3, in Operation Cincar near Kupres,[14] and from November 29 – December 24 in the Winter '94 operation near Dinara and Livno.[15][16] These operations were undertaken to detract from the siege of the Bihać region and to approach the RSK capital of Knin from the north, isolating it on three sides.[135]
During this time, unsuccessful negotiations mediated by the UN were under way between the Croatian and RSK governments. The matters under discussion included opening the Serb-occupied part of the Zagreb–Slavonski Brod motorway near Okučani to transit traffic, as well as the putative status of Serbian-majority areas within Croatia. The motorway initially reopened at the end of 1994, but it was soon closed again due to security issues. Repeated failures to resolve the two disputes would serve as triggers for major Croatian offensives in 1995.[244]
At the same time, the Krajina army continued the Siege of Bihać, together with the Army of Republika Srpska from Bosnia.[245] Michael Williams, an official of the UN peacekeeping force, said that when the village of Vedro Polje west of Bihać had fallen to a RSK unit in late November 1994, the siege entered the final stage. He added that heavy tank and artillery fire against the town of Velika Kladuša in the north of the Bihać enclave was coming from the RSK. Western military analysts said that among the array of Serbian surface-to-air missile systems that surrounded the Bihać pocket on Croatian territory, there was a modern SAM-2 system probably brought there from Belgrade.[246] In response to the situation, the Security Council passed Resolution 958, which allowed NATO aircraft deployed as a part of the Operation Deny Flight to operate in Croatia. On November 21, NATO attacked the Udbina airfield controlled by the RSK, temporarily disabling runways. Following the Udbina strike, NATO continued to launch strikes in the area, and on November 23, after a NATO reconnaissance plane was illuminated by the radar of a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, NATO planes attacked a SAM site near Dvor with AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles.[247]
In later campaigns, the Croatian army would pursue a variant of blitzkrieg tactics, with the Guard brigades punching through the enemy lines while the other units simply held the lines at other points and completed an encirclement of the enemy units.[130][135] In a further attempt to bolster its armed forces, Croatia hired Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI) in September 1994 to train some of its officers and NCOs.[citation needed] Begun in January 1995, MPRI's assignment involved fifteen advisors who taught basic officer leadership skills and training management. MPRI activities were reviewed in advance by the US State Department to ensure they did not involve tactical training or violate the UN arms embargo still in place.[248]
Tensions were renewed at the beginning of 1995 as Croatia sought to put increasing pressure on the RSK. In a five-page letter on 12 January Franjo Tuđman formally told the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali that Croatia was ending the agreement permitting the stationing of UNPROFOR in Croatia, effective 31 March. The move was purportedly motivated by actions by Serbia and the Serb-dominated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to provide assistance to the Serb occupation of Croatia and allegedly integrate the occupied areas into Yugoslav territory. The situation was noted and addressed by the UN General Assembly:[249]
... regarding the situation in Croatia, and to respect strictly its territorial integrity, and in this regard concludes that their activities aimed at achieving the integration of the occupied territories of Croatia into the administrative, military, educational, transportation and communication systems of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) are illegal, null and void, and must cease immediately.[250]
— The United Nations General Assembly resolution 1994/43, regarding to the occupied territories of Croatia
International peacemaking efforts continued, and a new peace plan called the Z-4 plan was presented to Croatian and Krajina authorities. There was no initial Croatian response, and the Serbs flatly refused the proposal.[251] As the deadline for UNPROFOR to pull out neared, a new UN peacekeeping mission was proposed with an increased mandate to patrol Croatia's internationally recognized borders. Initially the Serbs opposed the move, and tanks were moved from Serbia into eastern Croatia.[252] A settlement was finally reached, and the new UN peacekeeping mission was approved by United Nations Security Council Resolution 981 on March 31. The name of the mission was the subject of a last-minute dispute, as Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granić insisted that the word Croatia be added to the force's name. The name United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO) was approved.[253]
Violence erupted again in early May 1995. The RSK lost support from the Serbian government in Belgrade, partly as a result of international pressure. At the same time, the Croatian Operation Flash reclaimed all of the previously occupied territory in Western Slavonia.[41] In retaliation, Serb forces attacked Zagreb with rockets, killing 7 and wounding over 200 civilians.[254] The Yugoslav army responded to the offensive with a show of force, moving tanks towards the Croatian border, in an apparent effort to stave off a possible attack on the occupied area in Eastern Slavonia.[255]
During the following months, international efforts mainly concerned the largely unsuccessful United Nations Safe Areas set up in Bosnia and Herzegovina and trying to set up a more lasting ceasefire in Croatia. The two issues virtually merged by July 1995 when a number of the safe areas in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina were overrun and one in Bihać was threatened.[256] In 1994, Croatia had already signaled that it would not allow Bihać to be captured,[135] and a new confidence in the Croatian military's ability to recapture occupied areas brought about a demand from Croatian authorities that no further ceasefires were to be negotiated; the occupied territories would be re-integrated into Croatia.[257] These developments and the Washington Agreement, a ceasefire signed in the Bosnian theater, led to another meeting of presidents of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 July, when the Split Agreement was adopted. In it, Bosnia and Herzegovina invited Croatia to provide military and other assistance, particularly in the Bihać area. Croatia accepted, committing itself to an armed intervention.[258]
From 25 to 30 July, the Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) troops attacked Serb-held territory north of Mount Dinara, capturing Bosansko Grahovo and Glamoč during Operation Summer '95. That offensive paved the way for the military recapture of occupied territory around Knin, as it severed the last efficient resupply route between Banja Luka and Knin.[259] On 4 August, Croatia started Operation Storm, with the aim of recapturing almost all of the occupied territory in Croatia, except for a comparatively small strip of land, located along the Danube, at a considerable distance from the bulk of the contested land. The offensive, involving 100,000 Croatian soldiers, was the largest single land battle fought in Europe since World War II.[260] Operation Storm achieved its goals and was declared completed on 8 August.[12]
The Croatian human rights organization Hrvatski helsinški odbor, counted 677 Serb civilians killed by Croatian forces after Operation Storm, mostly old people who remained, while other Serb civilians fled.[261] An additional 837 Serb civilians are listed as missing following Operation Storm.[262] Other sources indicate a 181 more victims were killed by Croatian forces and buried in a mass grave in Mrkonjić Grad, following a continuation of the Operation Storm offensive into Bosnia.[263][264]
Many of the civilian population of the occupied areas fled during the offensive or immediately after its completion, in what was later described in various terms ranging from expulsion to planned evacuation.[12] Krajina Serb sources (Documents of HQ of Civilian Protection of RSK, Supreme Council of Defense published by Kovačević,[265] Sekulić,[266] and Vrcelj[267]) say that the evacuation of Serbs was organized and planned beforehand.[268][better source needed] According to Amnesty International, "some 200,000 Croatian Serbs, including the entire Croatian Serb Army, fled to the neighbouring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Bosnian Serb control. In the aftermath of the operations members of the Croatian Army and police murdered, tortured, and forcibly expelled Croatian Serb civilians who had remained in the area as well as members of the withdrawing Croatian Serb armed forces".[269] The ICTY, on the other hand, concluded that only about 20,000 people were deported.[47] The BBC noted 200,000 Serb refugees at one point.[270][271] Croatian refugees exiled in 1991 were finally allowed to return to their homes. In 1996 alone, about 85,000 displaced Croats returned to the former Krajina and western Slavonia, according to the estimates of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.[272]
In the months that followed, there were still some intermittent, mainly artillery, attacks from Serb-held areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Dubrovnik area and elsewhere.[9] The remaining Serb-held area in Croatia, in Eastern Slavonia, was faced with the possibility of military confrontation with Croatia. Such a possibility was repeatedly stated by Tuđman after Storm.[273] The threat was underlined by the movement of troops to the region in mid-October,[274] as well as a repeat of an earlier threat to intervene militarily—specifically saying that the Croatian Army could intervene if no peace agreement was reached by the end of the month.[275]
Further combat was averted on 12 November when the Erdut Agreement was signed by the RSK acting defense minister Milan Milanović,[13][276] on instructions received from Slobodan Milošević and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia officials.[277][278] The agreement stated that the remaining occupied area was to be returned to Croatia, with a two-year transitional period.[13] The new UN transitional administration was established as the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1037 of 15 January 1996.[279] The agreement also guarantees the right of establishment of a Joint Council of Municipalities for the local Serbian community.
The transitional period was subsequently extended by a year. On 15 January 1998, the UNTAES mandate ended and Croatia regained full control of the area.[17] As the UNTAES replaced the UNCRO mission, the Prevlaka peninsula, previously under UNCRO control, was put under the control of United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP). The UNMOP was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1038 of 15 January 1996, and terminated on 15 December 2002.[215]
On 25 October 1991, Yugoslav Air Force pilot Rudolf Perešin flew his MiG-21R to Austria and defected.[280][281] He later fought on behalf of Croatian forces in the war, ultimately dying after being shot down in 1995.[280]
On 4 February 1992, air force pilot Danijel BorovićMiG-21bis to Croatia and defected.[281] He later fought on behalf of Croatian forces in the war. The MiG-21bis itself was later shot down on 24 June 1992, killing pilot Anto Radoš .
flew hisOn 15 May 1992, air force pilots Ivica IvandićMiG-21bis to Croatia and defected.[282] Both later fought on behalf of Croatian forces in the war and survived. Ivandić's MiG-21bis was shot down on 14 September 1993, killing pilot Miroslav Peris .
and Ivan Selak flew theirThe standard term applied to the war as directly translated from Croatian is Homeland war (Croatian: Domovinski rat),[283] while the term Croatian War of Independence is also used.[284][285][286][287] Early English sources also called it the War in Croatia, the Serbo-Croatian War,[citation needed] and the Conflict in Yugoslavia.[3][27]
Different translations of the Croatian name for the war are also sometimes used, such as Patriotic War, although such use by native speakers of English is rare.[288] The official term used in Croatian is the most widespread name used in Croatia but other terms are also used. Another is Greater-Serbian Aggression (Croatian: Velikosrpska agresija). The term was widely used by the media during the war, and is still sometimes used by the Croatian media, politicians and others.[26][289][290]
Two views exist as to whether the war was a civil or an international war. The government of Serbia often states that it was entirely a "civil war".[291][292] The prevailing view in Croatia and of most international law experts, including the ICTY, is that the war was an international conflict, between the rump Yugoslavia and Serbia against Croatia, supported by Serbs in Croatia.[293][294][295] The Croatian international legal scholar and Yale University professor, Mirjan Damaška, said that the question of aggression was not one for the ICJ to decide as at the time of the verdict, the international crime of aggression had not yet been defined.[296] Neither Croatia nor Yugoslavia ever formally declared war on each other.[297] Unlike the Serbian position that the conflict need not be declared as it was a civil war,[291] the Croatian motivation for not declaring war was that Tuđman believed that Croatia could not confront the JNA directly and did everything to avoid an all-out war.[298]
All acts and omissions charged as Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 occurred during the international armed conflict and partial occupation of Croatia. ... Displaced persons were not allowed to return to their homes and those few Croats and other non-Serbs who had remained in the Serb-occupied areas were expelled in the following months. The territory of the RSK remained under Serb occupation until large portions of it were retaken by Croatian forces in two operations in 1995. The remaining area of Serb control in Eastern Slavonia was peacefully re-integrated into Croatia in 1998.[299]
— ICTY's indictment against Milošević
Most sources place the total number of deaths from the war at around 20,000.[43][300][301] According to the head of the Croatian Commission for Missing Persons, Colonel Ivan Grujić, Croatia suffered 12,000 killed or missing, including 6,788 soldiers and 4,508 civilians.[302] Another source gives a figure of 14,000 killed on the Croatian side, of whom 43.4% were civilians.[303] Official figures from 1996 also list 35,000 wounded.[25] Ivo Goldstein mentions 13,583 killed or missing,[304] while Anglo-Croatian historian Marko Attila Hoare reports the number to be 15,970[305] (citing figures from January 2003 presented by scientific researcher Dražen Živić).[306] Close to 2,400 persons were reported missing during the war.[307] In 2018, the Croatian Memorial-Documentation Center of Homeland War published new figures, indicating 22,211 killed or missing in the war: 15,007 killed or missing on the Croatian side and 7,204 killed or missing on the Serb side. 1,077 of those killed on the territories of the Republic of Serbian Krajina were non-Serbs.[20] However, on Croatian government-controlled territory, the Center did not break-out the ethnic structure of the total number of 5,657 civilians killed, due to missing data.[308]
As of 2016, the Croatian government listed 1,993 missing persons from the war, of whom 1093 were Croats (428 soldiers and 665 civilians), while the remaining 900 were Serbs (5 soldiers and 895 civilians).[309][310] As of 2009, there were more than 52,000 persons in Croatia registered as disabled due to their participation in the war.[311] This figure includes not only those disabled physically due to wounds or injuries sustained, but also persons whose health deteriorated due to their involvement in the war, including diagnoses of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[312] In 2010, the number of war-related PTSD-diagnosed persons was 32,000.[313]
In total, the war caused 500,000 refugees and displaced persons.[314] Around 196,000[315] to 247,000 (in 1993)[316] Croats and other non-Serbs were displaced during the war from or around the RSK. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that 221,000 were displaced in 2006, of which 218,000 had returned.[317] Up to 300,000 Croats were displaced, according to other sources.[21] The majority were displaced during the initial fighting and during the JNA offensives of 1991 and 1992.[210][318] On 16 March 1994, Croatia registered 492,636 displaced or refugees on its territory (241,014 persons from Croatia itself and 251,622 from Bosnia and Herzegovina), an estimated 10% of the country's population.[319] Some 150,000 Croats from Republika Srpska and Serbia have obtained Croatian citizenship since 1991,[320] many due to incidents like the expulsions in Hrtkovci.[321]
The Belgrade-based non-government organization Veritas lists 7,134 killed and missing from the Republic of Serbian Krajina, including 4,484 combatants and 2,650 civilians, and 307 JNA members who were not born or lived in Croatia. Most of them were killed or went missing in 1991 (2,729) and 1995 (2,348). The most deaths occurred in Northern Dalmatia (1,605).[22] The JNA has officially acknowledged 1,279 killed in action. The actual number was probably considerably greater, since casualties were consistently underreported. In one example, official reports spoke of two slightly wounded soldiers after an engagement, however, according to the unit's intelligence officer, the actual number was 50 killed and 150 wounded.[23][322]
According to Serbian sources, some 120,000 Serbs were displaced from 1991 to 1993, and 250,000 were displaced after Operation Storm.[323] The number of displaced Serbs was 254,000 in 1993,[316] dropping to 97,000 in the early 1995[315] and then increasing again to 200,000 by the end of the year. Most international sources place the total number of Serbs displaced at around 300,000. According to Amnesty International 300,000 were displaced from 1991 to 1995, of which 117,000 were officially registered as having returned as of 2005.[269] According to the OSCE, 300,000 were displaced during the war, of which 120,000 were officially registered as having returned as of 2006. However, it is believed the number does not accurately reflect the number of returnees, because many returned to Serbia, Montenegro, or Bosnia and Herzegovina after officially registering in Croatia.[317] According to the UNHCR in 2008, 125,000 were registered as having returned to Croatia, of whom 55,000 remained permanently.[324]
While the prewar 1991 Croatian census counted 581,663 Serbs, or 12.2% of the population in Croatia,[325] the first postwar 2001 census showed only 201,631 Serbs remaining in Croatia, or just 4.5% of the population.
The Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps and Croatian Disabled Homeland War Veterans Association were founded to help victims of prison abuse.[326][327]
A 2013 report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Croatia entitled 'Assessment of the Number of Sexual Violence Victims during the Homeland War on the Territory of the Republic of Croatia and Optimal Forms of Compensation and Support of Victims', determined the estimated victims (male and female) of rape and other forms of sexual assault on both sides to number between approximately 1,470 and 2,205 or 1,501 and 2,437 victims.[328] Most victims were non-Serbs assaulted by Serbs.[328] By region, the largest number of rapes and acts of sexual violence occurred in Eastern Slavonia, with an estimated 380-570 victims.[328] According to the UNDP report, between 300 and 600 men (4.4%-6.6% of those imprisoned) and between 279 and 466 women (or 30%-50% of those imprisoned) suffered from various forms of sexual abuse while being held in Serbian detention camps and prisons (including those in Serbia proper).[328] Between 412 and 611 Croat women were raped in the Serb-occupied territories, outside of detention camps, from 1991 to 1995.[328] Croat forces were also known to have committed rapes and acts of sexual violence against Serb women during Operations Flash and Storm, with an estimated 94-140 victims.[328] Sexual abuse of Serb prisoners also occurred in the Croat-run Lora and Kerestinec camps.[328]
On May 29, 2015, the Croatian parliament passed the first law in the country that recognises rape as a war crime – the Law on the Rights of Victims of Sexual Violence during the Military Aggression against the Republic of Croatia in the Homeland War.[329] The legislation, which is overseen by the Croatian War Veterans’ Ministry, provides victims with medical and legal aid as well as financial compensation from the state – up to 20,000 euros. These benefits do not depend on a court verdict.[329]
As of May 2019, Željka Žokalj from the War Veterans’ Ministry, said that around 25 million kunas (3.37 million euros) have already been awarded to victims. Since 2015, 249 compensation requests have been filed and 156 of them approved.[329]
Official figures on wartime damage published in Croatia in 1996 specify 180,000 destroyed housing units, 25% of the Croatian economy destroyed, and US$27 billion of material damage.[25] Europe Review 2003/04 estimated the war damage at US$37 billion in damaged infrastructure, lost economic output, and refugee-related costs, while GDP dropped 21% in the period.[42] 15 percent of housing units and 2,423 cultural heritage structures, including 495 sacral structures, were destroyed or damaged.[330] The war imposed an additional economic burden of very high military expenditures. By 1994, as Croatia rapidly developed into a de facto war economy, the military consumed as much as 60 percent of total government spending.[331]
Yugoslav and Serbian expenditures during the war were even more disproportionate. The federal budget proposal for 1992 earmarked 81 percent of funds to be diverted into the Serbian war effort.[332] Since a substantial part of the federal budgets prior to 1992 was provided by Slovenia and Croatia, the most developed republics of Yugoslavia, a lack of federal income quickly led to desperate printing of money to finance government operations. That in turn produced the worst episode of hyperinflation in history: Between October 1993 and January 1995, Yugoslavia, which then consisted of Serbia and Montenegro, suffered through a hyperinflation of five quadrillion percent.[333][334]
Many Croatian cities were attacked by artillery, missiles, and aircraft bombs by RSK or JNA forces from RSK or Serb-controlled areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Montenegro and Serbia. The most shelled cities were Vukovar, Slavonski Brod (from the mountain of Vučjak),[335] and Županja (for more than 1,000 days),[336] Vinkovci, Osijek, Nova Gradiška, Novska, Daruvar, Pakrac, Šibenik, Sisak, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Gospić, Karlovac, Biograd na moru, Slavonski Šamac, Ogulin, Duga Resa, Otočac, Ilok, Beli Manastir, Lučko, Zagreb, and others[337][338][339] Slavonski Brod was never directly attacked by tanks or infantry, but the city and its surrounding villages were hit by more than 11,600 artillery shells and 130 aircraft bombs in 1991 and 1992.[340]
Approximately 2 million mines were laid in various areas of Croatia during the war. Most of the minefields were laid with no pattern or any type of record being made of the position of the mines.[341] A decade after the war, in 2005, there were still about 250,000 mines buried along the former front lines, along some segments of the international borders, especially near Bihać, and around some former JNA facilities.[342] As of 2007, the area still containing or suspected of containing mines encompassed approximately 1,000 square kilometers (390 sq mi).[343] More than 1,900 people were killed or injured by land mines in Croatia since the beginning of the war, including more than 500 killed or injured by mines after the end of the war.[344] Between 1998 and 2005, Croatia spent €214 million on various mine action programs.[345] As of 2009, all remaining minefields are clearly marked.[346] During the 2015 European migrant crisis, there existed concerns over areas where mines could affect the flow of refugees coming from Serbia to Croatia.[347]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by UN Security Council Resolution 827, which was passed on 25 May 1993. The court has power to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law, breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violating the laws or customs of war, committing genocide, and crimes against humanity committed in the territory of the former SFR Yugoslavia since 1 January 1991.[348]
Between 1991 and 1995, Martić held positions of minister of interior, minister of defense and president of the self-proclaimed "Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina" (SAO Krajina), which was later renamed "Republic of Serbian Krajina" (RSK). He was found to have participated during this period in a joint criminal enterprise which included Slobodan Milošević, whose aim was to create a unified Serbian state through commission of a widespread and systematic campaign of crimes against non-Serbs inhabiting areas in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina envisaged to become parts of such a state.[46]
— International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in its verdict against Milan Martić
By the time of the last verdict delivered in 2023, the ICTY has convicted nine officials from the Serb/Montenegrin side and nobody from the Croatian side. The Serb officials were convicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, cruel treatment, imprisonment, deportation, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of villages or devastation not justified by military necessity, inhumane acts, and attacks on civilians.[46] Milan Martić received the largest sentence: 35 years in prison.[349] Milan Babić received 13 years. He expressed remorse for his role in the war, asking his "Croat brothers to forgive him".[350] Two Yugoslav army officers were sentenced for the Vukovar massacre; Veselin Šljivančanin was sentenced to 10 years and Mile Mrkšić to 20 years in prison.[351]
Yugoslav Army officials Pavle Strugar and Miodrag Jokić were sentenced to eight and seven years, respectively, for shelling the Old Town of Dubrovnik, a World Heritage Site.[352] A third indictee, Vladimir Kovačević, was declared mentally unfit to stand trial.[353] In 2018, Vojislav Šešelj was sentenced to 10 years for crimes against humanity perpetrated through persecution and deportation of Croats from Vojvodina in 1992,[354] while he was also given an additional cumulative sentence of 4 years and 9 months for contempt of court.[355] Vukovar's mayor, Slavko Dokmanović, was brought to trial at the ICTY, but committed suicide in 1998 in captivity before the judgement.[356] The Yugoslav Army's Chief of the General Staff, Momčilo Perišić, was eventually acquitted on all charges.[357] Ex-RSK President Goran Hadžić died during the trial. Slobodan Milošević was indicted for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, but died before the judgement.[358] According to the ICTY, Serb forces from the SAO Krajina deported at least 80–100,000 Croats and other non-Serb civilians in 1991–92.[359]
In 2023, the follow-up International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals sentenced State Security Service (SDB) officers within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović for aiding and abetting a murder in Daljska Planina and persecution in June 1992 through their control of Serb paramilitary, as well as other crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, included them in a joint criminal enterprise, and sentenced them each to 15 years in prison.[360][361] The Tribunal concluded:
...The Trial Chamber found proven beyond reasonable doubt that, from at least August 1991 and at all times relevant to the crimes charged in the Indictment, a common criminal purpose existed to forcibly and permanently remove the majority of non-Serbs from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the commission of the crimes of persecution, murder, deportation, and inhumane acts (forcible transfer) charged in the Indictment. It further found that a joint criminal enterprise existed, in which the common criminal purpose was shared by senior political, military, and police leadership in Serbia, SAO Krajina, SAO SBWS, and Republika Srpska, with core members being Slobodan Milošević, Radmilo Bogdanović, Radovan Stojičić (Badža), Mihalj Kertes, Milan Martić, Milan Babić, Goran Hadžić, Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladić, Momčilo Krajišnik, Biljana Plavšić, and Željko Ražnatović (Arkan).... The Appeals Chamber has further concluded that all reasonable doubt has been eliminated that Stanišić and Simatović possessed the requisite mens rea for joint criminal enterprise liability.[362]
The ICTY indicted Croatian officers Janko Bobetko, Rahim Ademi, and Mirko Norac, for crimes committed during Operation Medak Pocket, but that case was also transferred to Croatian courts. Norac was found guilty and jailed for 7 years; Ademi was acquitted.[363] Bobetko was declared unfit to stand trial due to poor health.[364][365] The ICTY's indictment against General Ante Gotovina cited at least 150 Serb civilians killed in the aftermath of Operation Storm.[366] The Croatian Helsinki Committee registered 677 Serb civilians killed in the operation.[367] Louise Arbour, a prosecutor of the ICTY, stated that the legality and legitimacy of the Operation itself was not the issue, but that the ICTY was required to investigate whether crimes were committed during the campaign.[368] The Trial Chamber reiterated that the legality of Operation Storm is "irrelevant" for the case at hand, since the ICTY's remit is processing war crimes.[369] In 2011, Gotovina was sentenced to 24 and Markač to 18 years in prison. In 2012, their convictions were overturned and both were immediately released. Čermak was acquitted of all charges.[47] Recorded war crimes that were committed against ethnic Serbs, particularly the elderly, during or in the aftermath of Operation Storm include the Golubić killings, Grubori massacre, and Varivode massacre. In the first-degree verdict, the trial chamber found that "certain members of the Croatian political and military leadership shared the common objective of the permanent removal of the Serb civilian population from the Krajina by force or threat of force", implicating Franjo Tuđman, Gojko Šušak, who was the Minister of Defence and a close associate of Tuđman's, and Zvonimir Červenko, the Chief of the Croatian army Main Staff.[47] Nevertheless, in the second-degree verdict, the appeals chamber dismissed the notion of such a joint criminal enterprise. The verdict meant the ICTY convicted no Croats for their role in the Croatian War of Independence.[48]
A number of Croat civilians in hospitals and shelters marked with a red cross were targeted by Serb forces.[370] There were numerous well-documented war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war perpetrated by Serb and Yugoslav forces in Croatia: the Dalj killings,[371] the Lovas massacre,[121][195] the Široka Kula massacre,[372] the Baćin massacre,[371] the Saborsko massacre,[373] the Škabrnja massacre,[197] the Voćin massacre,[371][374] and the Zagreb rocket attacks.
There were a number of prison camps where Croatian POWs and civilians were detained, including the Sremska Mitrovica camp, the Stajićevo camp, and the Begejci camp in Serbia, and the Morinj camp in Montenegro.[211] The Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps was later founded in order to help the victims of prison abuse. The Croatian Army established detention camps, like Lora prison camp in Split.[211]
Croatian war crimes included the Gospić massacre, the Sisak killings in 1991 and 1992,[375] and others,[376][377] which were likewise prosecuted by Croatian courts or the ICTY. Another infamous instance of war crimes, in what would later become known as the "Pakračka Poljana" case, committed by a reserve police unit commanded by Tomislav Merčep, involved the killing of prisoners, mostly ethnic Serbs, near Pakrac in late 1991 and early 1992.[378] The events were initially investigated by the ICTY, but the case was eventually transferred to the Croatian judiciary.[379] More than a decade later, five members of this unit, although not its commander, were indicted on criminal charges related to these events, and convicted.[380] Merčep was arrested for crimes in Pakrac, as well as crimes in central Croatia and Zagreb in December 2010 and sentenced in 2016 to five and a half years.[381][382] Merčep, who died in 2020,[383] had also been implicated with his units in the kidnappings and executions of Serb civilians in Vukovar prior to the town's fall to the JNA in 1991 but never charged for those crimes.[384] In 2009, Branimir Glavaš, a Croatian incumbent MP at the time, was convicted of war crimes committed in Osijek in 1991 and sentenced to jail by a Croatian court.[385]
While Serbia and Croatia never declared war on each other, Serbia was directly and indirectly involved in the war through a number of activities.[297] Its foremost involvement entailed material support of the JNA. Following the independence of various republics from SFR Yugoslavia, Serbia provided the bulk of manpower and funding that was channeled to the war effort through Serbian control of the Yugoslav presidency and the federal defense ministry.[127] Serbia actively supported various paramilitary volunteer units from Serbia that were fighting in Croatia.[121][122] Even though no actual fighting occurred on Serbian or Montenegrin soil, involvement of the two was evident through the maintenance of prison camps in Serbia and Montenegro, which became places where a number of war crimes were committed.[211]
Borders are always dictated by the strong, never by the weak ... We simply consider it as a legitimate right and interest of the Serb nation to live in one state.
Slobodan Milošević, 16 March 1991, on the breakup of Yugoslavia.[389]
Milošević's trial at the ICTY revealed numerous declassified documents of Belgrade's involvement in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia.[124][160] Evidence introduced at trial showed exactly how Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia financed the war, that they provided weapons and material support to Bosnian and Croatian Serbs, and demonstrated the administrative and personnel structures set up to support the Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb armies.[124][390] It was established that Belgrade, through the federal government, financed more than 90 percent of the Krajina budget in 1993; that the Supreme Defense Council decided to hide aid to Republika Srpska and Krajina from the public; that the National Bank of Krajina operated as a branch office of the National Bank of Yugoslavia; and that by March 1994 FR Yugoslavia, Krajina, and Republika Srpska used a single currency. Numerous documents demonstrated that branches of the Krajina Public Accountancy Service were incorporated into Serbia's accountancy system in May 1991, and that the financing of Krajina and Republika Srpska caused hyperinflation in FR Yugoslavia.[124] The trial revealed that the JNA, the Serbian Ministry of Interior, and other entities (including Serb civilian groups and police) armed Serb civilians and local territorial defense groups in the RSK before the conflict escalated.[124]
In 1993, the US State Department reported that right after the Maslenica and Medak pocket operations, authorities in Serbia dispatched substantial numbers of "volunteers" to Serb-held territories in Croatia to fight.[316] A former secretary of the Serbian paramilitary leader Željko Ražnatović testified at the Hague, confirming that Ražnatović took his orders, and his money, directly from the secret police run by Milošević.[391]
This degree of control was reflected in negotiations held at various times between Croatian authorities and the RSK, as the Serbian leadership under Milošević was regularly consulted and frequently made decisions on behalf of the RSK.[6] The Erdut Agreement that ended the war was signed by a RSK minister on instructions from Milošević.[13][277][278] The degree of control Serbia held over SFR Yugoslavia and later the RSK was evidenced through testimonies during the Milošević trial at the ICTY.[127][277][278]
Serbia's state-run media were reportedly used to incite the conflict and further inflame the situation,[392][393] and also to broadcast false information about the war and the state of the Serbian economy.[394]
Following the rise of nationalism and political tensions after Slobodan Milošević came to power, as well as the outbreaks of the Yugoslav Wars, numerous anti-war movements developed in Serbia.[395][396][397] The anti-war protests in Belgrade were held mostly because of opposition to the Battle of Vukovar and Siege of Dubrovnik,[395][397] while protesters demanded the referendum on a declaration of war and disruption of military conscription.[398][399][400] It is estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 people deserted from the Milošević-controlled Yugoslav Army during the wars, while between 100,000 and 150,000 people emigrated from Serbia refusing to participate in the war.[398][397] According to professor Renaud De la Brosse, senior lecturer at the University of Reims and a witness called by the ICTY, it is surprising how great the resistance to Milošević's propaganda was among Serbs, given that and the lack of access to alternative news.[401] By late December 1991, just over a month after victory had been proclaimed in Vukovar, opinion polls found that 64% of Serbian people wanted to end the war immediately and only 27% were willing for it to continue.[402]
After the successful implementation of the Erdut Agreement which ended armed conflict in 1995, the relations between Croatia and Serbia gradually improved and the two countries established diplomatic relations following an agreement in early August 1996.[404]
In a case before the International Court of Justice, Croatia filed a suit against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 2 July 1999, citing Article IX of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.[405] With the transformation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into Serbia and Montenegro and the dissolution of that country in 2006, Serbia is considered its legal successor.[405] The application was filed for Croatia by a U.S. lawyer, David B. Rivkin.[406] Serbia reciprocated with the genocide lawsuit against the Republic of Croatia on 4 January 2010.[407] The Serbian application covers missing people, killed people, refugees, expelled people, and all military actions and concentration camps with a historical account of genocide committed by the Independent State of Croatia during World War II.[408]
In 2003, Stjepan Mesić became the first Croatian head of state to visit Belgrade since 1991. Both Mesić and the President of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marović, issued mutual apologies to Croat and Serb victims of the war.[409]
By 2010, Croatia and Serbia further improved their relations through an agreement to resolve remaining refugee issues,[44] and visits of Croatian President Ivo Josipović to Belgrade,[45] and of the Serbian President Boris Tadić to Zagreb and Vukovar. During their meeting in Vukovar, President Tadić gave a statement expressing his "apology and regret", while President Josipović said "that no crimes committed at the time would go unpunished." The statements were made during a joint visit to the Ovčara memorial center, site of the Vukovar massacre.[403]
The war developed at a time when the attention of the United States and the world was on Iraq, and the Gulf War in 1991, along with a sharp rise in oil prices and a slowdown in the growth of the world economy.[410]
Between 19 and 23 December 1991, several other European countries, beginning with Germany and the Vatican City, followed by Sweden and Italy, announced their recognition of Croatia's (and Slovenia's) independence.[37] The European Union as a whole recognized the independence of the two republics on 15 January 1992.
Each of the major foreign governments acted somewhat differently:
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Milošević and I resolutely requested the following from Kadijević: 1. Respond to the Slovenes vigorously using all means including the air force, they must absolutely no longer be allowed to disrespect the Yugoslav People's Army. Then withdraw from Slovenia. We shall make a timely decision on that matter. In that way army morale shall be improved, Croatia shall be scared and Serbian people calmed. 2. The main YPA forces shall be grouped on Karlovac-Plitvice [Lakes] line to the West; Baranja, Osijek, Vinkovci – Sava [River] to the East and Neretva [River] in the South. In that way all territories inhabited by Serbs shall be covered until the final resolution, that is until the people freely decides in a referendum. 3. Completely eliminate Croats and Slovenes from the army.
Could you tell us, please, was one side responsible for the escalation in terms of violence and demonstrations of force? A. Both sides were responsible, but to my knowledge, the Serb side began using force first
Before the war, the Yugoslav Army drew its soldiers from conscription in all of the Yugoslav republics. Now it must rely on Serbian reservists and Serb irregulars who are poorly trained. A recent report by the monitoring mission concluded that the army was routinely shelling civilian areas.
Biskupija danas obuhvaća 1368 km2. ... Pola biskupije bilo je okupirano. [Today, the Diocese encompasses 1,368 km2. ... A half of the Diocese was occupied.]
Upitan o navodnom sukobu Hrvatske vojske i kanadskog bataljuna McGuinnes je rekao da je do razmjene vatre došlo jednom ili dva puta, ali da ozlijeđenih nije bilo. [Questioned on an alleged clash of Croatian army and the Canadian battalion, McGuinnes said that shots were exchanged once or twice, but there were no injuries]
7. Stresses the importance it attaches, as a first step towards the implementation of the United Nations peace-keeping plan for the Republic of Croatia, to the process of restoration of the authority of the Republic of Croatia in the pink zones, and in this context calls for the revival of the Joint Commission established under the chairmanship of UNPROFOR; 8. Urges all the parties and others concerned to cooperate with UNPROFOR in reaching and implementing an agreement on confidence-building measures including the restoration of electricity, water and communications in all regions of the Republic of Croatia, and stresses in this context the importance it attaches to the opening of the railroad between Zagreb and Split, the highway between Zagreb and Zupanja, and the Adriatic oil pipeline, securing the uninterrupted traffic across the Maslenica strait, and restoring the supply of electricity and water to all regions of the Republic of Croatia including the United Nations Protected Areas.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991 was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on March 3, 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs—supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro—responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas to form a "Greater Serbia". In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Boris Tadic: "Eine Täterrolle für Serbien muss ich ablehnen. Das war ein Bürgerkrieg, und daran war jeder beteiligt. Wir alle müssen uns unserer Verantwortung stellen" (Translation: "I must refuse the role of a perpetrator for Serbia. This was a civil war, and everyone was involved. We must all shoulder our responsibilities.")
The armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia started shortly after the date on which Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on June 25, 1991 between the military forces of the SFRY and Slovenia and Croatia. Such armed conflict should, of course, be characterized as internal because the declarations of independence were suspended in consequence of the proposal of the EC for three months. After the expiration of the three months' period, on October 7, 1991, Slovenia proclaimed its independence with effect from that date, and Croatia with effect from October 8, 1991. So the armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia should be considered international as from October 8, 1991 because the independence of these two States was definite on that date
Srbi s planine Vučjak u BiH neprekidno granatiraju Slavonski Brod
Neprekinuta opća opasnost u Županji traje još od travnja 1992 ... Srbi iz Bosne grad gađaju oko 12 ili oko 15 sati, kada je na ulicama najviše ljudi.