Tenja ( Serbian Cyrillic : Тења , Hungarian : Tenye , German : Tenne ) is a village in eastern Slavonia , Croatia , located just southeast of Osijek . The population is 7,376.
82-481: During the Croatian War of Independence , Tenja was under the control of Serb rebel forces. It was a part of the self-proclaimed SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1991–1992), Republic of Serbian Krajina (1992-1995) and United Nations protectorate of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1995-1998). Between July and November 1991, Serb forces killed at least 29 non-Serb civilians in
164-574: A Greater Serbia . At the time, the EC viewed the agreement as a method of defusing the crisis and failed to attribute the lull which coincided with the Brioni Agreement to a shift in Serbian strategy instead. The EC delegation's failure to respond to Jović's departure before the plenary meeting and the EC foreign ministers' declaration of 10 July indicating the EC would withdraw from mediation if
246-557: A Territorial Defense system . On paper, the JNA seemed a powerful force, with 2,000 tanks and 300 jet aircraft (mainly Soviet or locally produced). However, by 1991, the majority of this equipment was 30 years old, as the force consisted primarily of T-54/55 tanks and MiG-21 aircraft. Still, the JNA operated around 300 M-84 tanks (a Yugoslav version of the Soviet T-72 ) and a sizable fleet of ground-attack aircraft , such as
328-526: A Yugoslav Partisan in World War II , was loyal to Yugoslavia and not a Greater Serbia; Kadijević believed that if Slovenia left Yugoslavia the state would collapse and thus he discussed with Jović about possibly using the JNA to impose martial law in Slovenia to prevent this potential collapse and was willing to wage war with the secessionist republics to prevent their secession. Kadijević considered
410-519: A great number of desertions, and the army responded by mobilizing Serbian reserve troops. Approximately 100,000 evaded the draft , and the new conscripts proved an ineffective fighting force. The JNA resorted to reliance on irregular militias . Paramilitary units like the White Eagles , Serbian Guard , Dušan Silni, and Serb Volunteer Guard , which committed a number of massacres against Croat and other non-Serbs civilians, were increasingly used by
492-517: A new " Ustashe state". In one instance, TV Belgrade showed Tuđman shaking hands with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (who would be the first government leader in the world to recognise independent Croatia and Slovenia) accusing the two of plotting "a Fourth Reich". Aside from the firing of many Serbs from public sector positions, another concern among Serbs living in Croatia was the HDZ's public display of
574-542: A number of them had been founded, including the Croatian Democratic Union ( Croatian : Hrvatska demokratska zajednica ) (HDZ), led by Franjo Tuđman , who later became the first president of Croatia . Tuđman ran on a nationalist platform with a program of "national reconciliation" between Croatian communists and former Ustašes (fascists) being a key component of his party's political program. Accordingly, he also integrated former Ustaše members into
656-418: A period of three months. The document also resolved border control and customs inspection issues regarding Slovenia's borders, resolved air-traffic control responsibility and mandated an exchange of prisoners of war . The Brioni Agreement also formed the basis for an observer mission to monitor implementation of the agreement in Slovenia. Eleven days after the agreement was made, the federal government pulled
738-575: A rebellion. From the beginning of the Log Revolution and the end of April 1991, nearly 200 incidents involving the use of explosive devices and 89 attacks on the Croatian police were recorded. The Croatian Ministry of the Interior started arming an increasing number of special police forces, and this led to the building of a real army. On 9 April 1991, Croatian President Tuđman ordered
820-419: A small scale. Compared to the results from 25 years before, Croatia was the republic with the highest increase in ethnic distance. Furthermore, there was significant increase of ethnic distance among Serbs and Montenegrins toward Croats and Slovenes and vice versa. Of all respondents, 48% of Croats said that their affiliation with Yugoslavia is very important to them. In February 1990, Jovan Rašković founded
902-415: Is Serbia", and expressed support for Milošević. The first free elections in Croatia and Slovenia were scheduled for a few months later. The first round of elections in Croatia was held on 22 April, and the second round on 6 May. The HDZ based its campaign on greater sovereignty (eventually outright independence) for Croatia, fueling a sentiment among Croats that "only the HDZ could protect Croatia from
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#1732787178148984-578: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Croatian War of Independence Croatian victory [REDACTED] 15,007 dead or missing (8,685 soldiers and 6,322 civilians) [REDACTED] 7,134 dead or missing (4,484 soldiers and 2,650 civilians) [REDACTED] 1,279 soldiers killed [REDACTED] [REDACTED] 7,204 dead or missing (3,486 soldiers, 2,677 civilians and 864 unidentified) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] 7,204–8,413 dead or missing in total 1992 1993 1994 1995 The Croatian War of Independence
1066-638: Is a document signed by representatives of Slovenia , Croatia , and Yugoslavia under the political sponsorship of the European Community (EC) on the Brijuni Islands on 7 July 1991. The agreement sought to create an environment in which further negotiations on the future of Yugoslavia could take place. However, ultimately it isolated the federal prime minister Ante Marković in his efforts to preserve Yugoslavia, and effectively stopped any form of federal influence over Slovenia. This meant
1148-481: Is not what is sought. Gentlemen, what they want is territory. — Stjepan Mesić on Belgrade's intentions in the war In August 1990, an unrecognized mono-ethnic referendum was held in regions with a substantial Serb population which would later become known as the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) (bordering western Bosnia and Herzegovina ) on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. This
1230-628: The šahovnica (Croatian checkerboard) in the Croatian coat of arms , which was associated with the fascist Ustaše regime. This was a misconception as the checkerboard had a history going back to the fifteenth century and was not identical to the one that was used in the WW2-era Independent State of Croatia . However, Tuđman's xenophobic rhetoric and attitude towards Croatian Serbs as well as his support for former Ustaše leaders did little to ease Serb fears. Immediately after
1312-582: The Croatian Army ( Croatian : Hrvatska vojska ) by 1993. Weaponry was in short supply, and many units were either unarmed or were equipped with obsolete World War II-era rifles. The Croatian Army had only a handful of tanks, including World War II-surplus vehicles such as the T-34 , and its Air Force was in an even worse state, consisting of only a few Antonov An-2 biplane crop-dusters that had been converted to drop makeshift bombs. In August 1991,
1394-594: The EC presidency , and Italy and the Netherlands, as the previous and future holders of that office. The delegation members were Jacques Poos (Luxembourg), Gianni de Michelis (Italy), and Hans van den Broek (Netherlands). Prior to the delegation's arrival in Belgrade , Poos told reporters that the EC would take charge of the crisis. There, the delegation was met by Serbian president Slobodan Milošević who dismissed
1476-551: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and lawsuits filed by each country against the other . In 2007, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) returned a guilty verdict against Milan Martić , one of the Serb leaders in Croatia, for having colluded with Slobodan Milošević and others to create a "unified Serbian state". Between 2008 and 2012,
1558-696: The SAO Krajina was proclaimed by the municipalities of the regions of Northern Dalmatia and Lika , in south-western Croatia. Article 1 of the Statute of the SAO Krajina defined the SAO Krajina as "a form of territorial autonomy within the Republic of Croatia" in which the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, state laws, and the Statute of the SAO Krajina were applied. On 22 December 1990,
1640-778: The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in Knin , whose program aimed to change the regional division of Croatia to be aligned with ethnic Serb interests. Prominent members of the RSK government, including Milan Babić and Milan Martić , later testified that Belgrade directed a propaganda campaign portraying the Serbs in Croatia as being threatened with genocide by the Croat majority. On 4 March 1990, 50,000 Serbs rallied at Petrova Gora and shouted negative remarks aimed at Tuđman, chanted "This
1722-724: The Slovenian parliamentary election and the Croatian parliamentary election in April and May 1990, the JNA announced that the Tito -era doctrine of "general people's defense", in which each republic maintained a Territorial defense force ( Serbo-Croatian : Teritorijalna obrana ) (TO), would henceforth be replaced by a centrally directed system of defense. The republics would lose their role in defense matters, and their TOs would be disarmed and subordinated to JNA headquarters in Belgrade, but
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#17327871781481804-722: The Soko G-4 Super Galeb and the Soko J-22 Orao , whose armament included AGM-65 Maverick guided missiles. By contrast, more modern cheap anti-tank missiles (like the AT-5 ) and anti-aircraft missiles (like the SA-14 ) were abundant and were designed to destroy much more advanced weaponry. Before the war the JNA had 169,000 regular troops, including 70,000 professional officers . The fighting in Slovenia brought about
1886-564: The Tenja massacre , while another 3,000 residents were displaced from their homes. Between 1996 and 1998 Tenja was under the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) administration. The UNTAES mission made an executive decision to create the so-called Transitional Municipality of Tenja at the time of transition of the region to the control of
1968-540: The Territorial Defence Force of Slovenia (TDS) began fighting over control of Slovenia's border posts, in what became the Ten-Day War . A three-strong EC delegation made three visits to the region in late June and early July to negotiate a political agreement which would facilitate further negotiations. The delegation consisted of the foreign ministers of Luxembourg, as the incumbent holder of
2050-581: The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) would focus on combat in Croatia, creating a precedent of redrawing international borders and staking the EC's interest in resolving the Yugoslav crisis . The agreement put an end to hostilities between the Yugoslav and Slovene forces in the Ten-Day War . Slovenia and Croatia agreed to suspend activities stemming from their 25 June declarations of independence for
2132-541: The propaganda machines on both sides. During his testimony before the ICTY, one of the top Krajina leaders, Milan Martić, stated that the Serb side started using force first. The conflict escalated into armed incidents in the majority-Serb populated areas. The Serbs attacked Croatian police units in Pakrac in early March, while one Josip Jović is widely reported as the first police officer killed by Serb forces as part of
2214-710: The weakening of the communist states in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cold War , as symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In Croatia, the regional branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia , the League of Communists of Croatia , had lost its ideological potency. Slovenia and Croatia advocated decentralization . SR Serbia , headed by Slobodan Milošević , adhered to centralism and single-party rule, and in turn effectively ended
2296-553: The Army in March 1991 supported a coup d'état as a way out of the crisis but then changed their minds four days later. Kadijević's response to this was that "Jović is lying". Kadijević claims he was invited to a meeting in March 1991 in Jović's office, two days after huge protests organized by Vuk Drašković on the streets of Belgrade, where Milošević, according to Kadijević, requested that
2378-602: The Army met with the Presidency of the SFRY in an attempt to convince them to declare a state of emergency which would allow for the army to take control of the country. Yugoslav army chief Veljko Kadijević declared that there was a conspiracy to destroy the country, saying: An insidious plan has been drawn up to destroy Yugoslavia. Stage one is civil war. Stage two is foreign intervention. Then puppet regimes will be set up throughout Yugoslavia. Jović claims that Kadijević and
2460-592: The Basic Principles of the Constitution identified that self-determination including secession "belonged to the peoples of Yugoslavia and their socialist republics". The matter of Kosovo secession was addressed in May 1991 with the court claiming that "only the peoples of Yugoslavia" had the right to secession, Albanians were considered a minority and not a people of Yugoslavia. The 1990 survey conducted among Yugoslav citizens showed that ethnic animosity existed on
2542-587: The Brioni Agreement materialised as the European Community Monitor Mission (ECMM) tasked with monitoring the disengagement of the JNA and the TDS in Slovenia, and ultimately the withdrawal of the JNA from Slovenia. Even though little was agreed upon and the agreement was later interpreted differently by its signatories, the Brioni Agreement established the EC's interest in the region and the first EC Ministerial Conference on Yugoslavia
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2624-531: The Croatian Army had fewer than 20 brigades . After general mobilization was instituted in October, the size of the army grew to 60 brigades and 37 independent battalions by the end of the year. In 1991 and 1992, Croatia was also supported by 456 foreign fighters, including British (139), French (69), and German (55). The seizure of the JNA's barracks between September and December helped to alleviate
2706-795: The Croatian Government. In January 1997 Transitional Administrator Jacques Paul Klein established new municipalities of Trpinja , Negoslavci , Markušica , Šodolovci and Jagodnjak with Serb majority which are today part of the Joint Council of Municipalities . In Tenja and Mirkovci were declared so called transitional municipalities with Serb ethnic majority which were to become part of Vinkovci and Osijek respectively after an additional transitional period of one year. 45°30′06″N 18°44′42″E / 45.501655°N 18.744884°E / 45.501655; 18.744884 This Osijek-Baranja County geography article
2788-466: The Croatian and Serbian fans and with the police. On 30 May 1990, the new Croatian Parliament held its first session. President Tuđman announced his manifesto for a new Constitution (ratified at the end of the year) and a multitude of political, economic, and social changes, notably to what extent minority rights (mainly for Serbs) would be guaranteed. Local Serb politicians opposed the new constitution. In 1991, Croats represented 78.1% and Serbs 12.2% of
2870-573: The Croatians' equipment shortage. By 1995, the balance of power had shifted significantly. Serb forces in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were capable of fielding an estimated 130,000 troops; the Croatian Army, Croatian Defence Council ( Croatian : Hrvatsko vijeće obrane ) (HVO), and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina could field a combined force of 250,000 soldiers and 570 tanks. Ethnic hatred grew as various incidents fueled
2952-513: The Croats but that it never actually undermined their own dominance in SR Croatia. After the HDZ came to power, many Serbs employed in the public sector, especially the police, were fired and replaced by Croats. This, combined with Tuđman's remarks, i.e. "Thank God my wife is not a Jew or a Serb", were distorted by Milošević's media to spark fear that any form of an independent Croatia would be
3034-518: The ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina , Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak for alleged involvement in the crimes related to Operation Storm . Čermak was acquitted outright, and the convictions of Gotovina and Markač were later overturned by an ICTY Appeals Panel. The International Court of Justice dismissed mutual claims of genocide by Croatia and Serbia in 2015. The Court reaffirmed that, to an extent, crimes against civilians had taken place, but it ruled that specific genocidal intent
3116-558: The JNA and Serb forces. By effectively removing Slovenia from influence of the federal authorities, especially the JNA, the agreement fulfilled one of the Serbian nationalists' goals, allowing the redrawing of international borders. Sabrina Ramet noted that Kučan and Milošević reached an agreement in January 1991 in which Milošević gave his assurances that Slovenia's independence bid would not be opposed by Serbia. In return, Kučan expressed his understanding for Milošević's interest to create
3198-487: The JNA from Slovenia on 18 July in response to Slovene actions in breach of the Brioni Agreement. The ECMM's scope of work was expanded to include Croatia on 1 September. By mid-September, the war had escalated as the Croatian National Guard and police blockaded the JNA barracks and the JNA embarked on a campaign against Croatian forces . The Brioni Agreement isolated Marković who tried to preserve
3280-516: The JNA out of Slovenia. Conversely, the agreement made no mitigating impact on fighting in Croatia . On 23 June 1991, as Slovenia and Croatia prepared to declare their independence during the breakup of Yugoslavia , the European Community (EC) foreign ministers decided the EC member states would not extend diplomatic recognition to the two states. The EC viewed the declarations as unilateral moves and offered assistance in negotiations regarding
3362-560: The Parliament of Croatia ratified the new constitution, which was seen by Serbs as taking away rights that had been granted by the Socialist constitution. The constitution did define Croatia as "the national state of the Croatian nation and a state of members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs ... who are guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality ..." Following Tuđman's election and
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3444-541: The Presidency meeting failed to achieve the results the Army wanted that Kadijević met with him with the proposed coup d'état against the secessionist republics. During the meeting Marković responded to Kadijević by saying that the plan failed to arrest Milošević. Kadijević replied "He is only one fighting for Yugoslavia. Without him, we could not be proposing this." Marković rejected the plan and afterwards communication between Kadijević and Marković broke down. The JNA
3526-496: The Presidency of Yugoslavia on 30 June. The appearance of a success was reinforced when the JNA ordered its troops posted in Slovenia to return to their barracks. On 1 July, de Michelis was replaced by João de Deus Pinheiro , the Portuguese foreign minister, to maintain the formula of current, former and future EC presidencies comprising the EC delegation as the Netherlands took over the presidency from Luxembourg, while Portugal
3608-482: The RSK encompassed 13,913 square kilometers (5,372 sq mi), more than a quarter of Croatia. In 1995, Croatia launched two major offensives known as Operation Flash and Operation Storm ; these offensives effectively ended the war in its favor. The remaining United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) zone was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia by 1998. The war ended with Croatian victory, as it achieved
3690-428: The Serbian people living in either Croatia or Bosnia or anywhere else. If that were the case, then we could look and see what it is in the Croatian constitution , see what is in the declaration on minorities, on the Serbs in Croatia and on minorities, because the Serbs are treated separately there. Let us see if the Serbs have less rights than the Croats in Croatia. That would be protecting the Serbs in Croatia. But that
3772-432: The Yugoslav and Serb forces. There were also foreign fighters supporting the RSK, mostly from Russia . With the retreat of the JNA forces in 1992, JNA units were reorganized as the Army of Serb Krajina , which was a direct heir to the JNA organization, with little improvement. By 1991, the JNA officer corps was dominated by Serbs and Montenegrins ; they were overrepresented in Yugoslav federal institutions, especially
3854-491: The army take control of the country through a military coup. Kadijević's apparent response was to inform Milošević that he could not make such a decision by himself, and that he'd discuss the request with army leaders and later inform Jović's office about their decision. Kadijević then said that their decision was against the putsch and that he informed Jović's office in written form about it. Jović claims that such document doesn't exist. Ante Marković has described that after
3936-488: The army", most of whom had already begun to desert en masse. The Croatian military was in a much worse state than that of the Serbs. In the early stages of the war, lack of military units meant that the Croatian Police force would take the brunt of the fighting. The Croatian National Guard ( Croatian : Zbor narodne garde ), the new Croatian military, was formed on 11 April 1991, and gradually developed into
4018-421: The army. 57.1% of JNA officers were Serbs , while Serbs formed 36.3% of the population of Yugoslavia. A similar structure was observed as early as 1981. Even though the two peoples combined comprised 38.8% of the population of Yugoslavia, 70% of all JNA officers and non-commissioned officers were either Serbs or Montenegrins. In July 1991, the JNA was instructed to "completely eliminate Croats and Slovenes from
4100-507: The aspirations of Milošević towards a Greater Serbia". It topped the poll in the elections (followed by Ivica Račan 's reformed communists, Social Democratic Party of Croatia ) and was set to form a new Croatian Government . A tense atmosphere prevailed on May 13, 1990, when a football game was held at Zagreb in Maksimir Stadium between Zagreb 's Dinamo team and Belgrade's Red Star . The game erupted into violence between
4182-497: The autonomy of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina by March 1989, taking command of their votes in the Yugoslav federal presidency . Nationalist ideas started to gain influence within the ranks of the still-ruling League of Communists, while Milošević's speeches, notably the 1989 Gazimestan speech in which he talked of "battles and quarrels", favored continuation of a unified Yugoslav state — one in which all power would continue to be centralized in Belgrade . In
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#17327871781484264-463: The autumn of 1989, the Serbian government pressured the Croatian government to allow a series of Serb nationalist rallies in the country, and the Serbian media and various Serbian intellectuals had already begun to refer to the Croatian leadership as " Ustaše ", and began to make reference to genocide and other crimes committed by the Ustaše between 1941 and 1945. The Serbian political leadership approved of
4346-606: The beginning of court cases being brought to Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court on the matter of secession. The first was the Slovenian Constitutional Amendments case after Slovenia claimed the right to unilateral secession pursuant to the right of self-determination. The Constitutional Court ruled that secession from the federation was only permitted if there was the unanimous agreement of Yugoslavia's republics and autonomous provinces. The Constitutional Court noted that 1974 Constitution's Section I of
4428-537: The behest of Serbia. According to Jović, on 27 June 1990 he and Veljko Kadijević , the Yugoslav Defence Minister, met and agreed that they should, regarding Croatia and Slovenia, "expel them forcibly from Yugoslavia, by simply drawing borders and declaring that they have brought this upon themselves through their decisions". According to Jović, the next day he obtained the agreement of Milošević. However, Kadijević, of mixed Serb-Croat heritage and
4510-640: The election of Tuđman and the HDZ, a Serb Assembly was established in Srb , north of Knin, on 25 July 1990 as the political representation of the Serb people in Croatia. The Serb Assembly declared "sovereignty and autonomy of the Serb people in Croatia". The new Croatian government implemented policies that were seen as openly nationalistic and anti-Serbian in nature, such as the removal of the Serbian Cyrillic script from correspondence in public offices. Greater Serbian circles have no interest in protecting
4592-399: The federation, but was ignored by van den Broek who appeared not to comprehend issues presented before him, and the EC delegation tacitly encouraged the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The agreement diminished the authority of part of the JNA's leadership who fought for the preservation of the Yugoslav federation. The agreement was also unfavourable for Croatia because it was left to defend against
4674-462: The future of the SFR Yugoslavia instead. At the same time, the EC decided to suspend direct talks with Slovenia and Croatia. The move was welcomed by the Yugoslav federal government. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence on 25 June, and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) units began to deploy from its bases in Slovenia the next day. On 27 June, armed conflict broke out as the JNA and
4756-485: The goals it had declared at the beginning of the war: independence and preservation of its borders. Approximately 21–25% of Croatia's economy was ruined, with an estimated US$ 37 billion in damaged infrastructure, lost output , and refugee-related costs. Over 20,000 people were killed in the war, and refugees were displaced on both sides. The Serbian and Croatian governments began to progressively cooperate with each other, but tensions remain, in part due to verdicts by
4838-571: The largest ethnic group in the country as a whole. From 1967 to 1972 in Croatia and 1968 and 1981 protests in Kosovo , nationalist doctrines and actions caused ethnic tensions that destabilized Yugoslavia. The suppression by the state of nationalists is believed to have had the effect of identifying Croat nationalism as the primary alternative to communism itself and made it a strong underground movement. A crisis emerged in Yugoslavia with
4920-591: The new Slovenian government acted quickly to retain control over their TO. On 14 May 1990, the weapons of the TO of Croatia, in Croat-majority regions, were taken away by the JNA, preventing the possibility of Croatia having its own weapons as was done in Slovenia. Borisav Jović , Serbia's representative in the Federal Presidency and a close ally of Slobodan Milošević, claimed that this action came at
5002-601: The party and state's apparatus. In January 1990, the League of Communists broke up on ethnic lines, with the Croatian and Slovene factions demanding a looser federation at the 14th Extraordinary Congress. At the congress, Serbian delegates accused the Croatian and Slovene delegates of "supporting separatism, terrorism and genocide in Kosovo". The Croatian and Slovene delegations, including most of their ethnic Serb members, eventually left in protest, after Serbian delegates rejected every proposed amendment. January 1990 also marked
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#17327871781485084-493: The perceived threat from the new constitution, Serb nationalists in the Kninska Krajina region began taking armed action against Croatian government officials. Croatian government property throughout the region was increasingly controlled by local Serb municipalities or the newly established "Serbian National Council". This would later become the government of the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). After it
5166-461: The political crisis and ethnic conflict to have been caused by the actions of foreign governments, particularly Germany, which he accused of seeking to break up Yugoslavia to allow Germany to exercise a sphere of influence in the Balkans. Kadijević regarded the Croatian government of Tuđman to be a fascist-inspired and that Serbs had the right to be protected from Croatian "armed formations". After
5248-412: The position on 15 June, instead of Milošević who refused to attend. Starting at 8:00 a.m., the EC delegation held separate talks with Kučan and his assistants, then with Tuđman and his assistants, and finally with Jović. In the afternoon, a plenary meeting was held with the federal, Slovene and Croatian delegations in attendance, while Jović reportedly left dissatisfied with the talks. The agreement
5330-444: The prospect of Croatia leaving the Yugoslav federation because its population contained 600,000 Serbs . On 29 June, Croatia and Slovenia agreed to suspend their declarations of independence to allow time for a negotiated settlement. The EC delegation appeared to make progress when Serbia responded to the move by ceasing their opposition to the appointment of a Croatian member of the federal presidency, Stjepan Mesić , as President of
5412-537: The rhetoric and accused the Croatian leadership of being "blindly nationalistic" when it objected. Having completed the anti-bureaucratic revolution in Vojvodina , Kosovo, and Montenegro, Serbia secured four out of eight federal presidency votes in 1991, which rendered the governing body ineffective as other republics objected and called for reform of the Federation. In 1989, political parties were allowed and
5494-400: The scene, but were intercepted by SFR Yugoslav Air Force fighter jets and forced to turn back to Zagreb . The Serbs felled pine trees or used bulldozers to block roads to seal off towns like Knin and Benkovac near the Adriatic coast . On 18 August 1990, the Serbian newspaper Večernje novosti claimed "almost two million Serbs were ready to go to Croatia to fight". On 21 December 1990,
5576-616: The secession and advocated Serb-claimed lands to be in a common state with Serbia. Most Serbs sought a new Serb state within a Yugoslav federation, including areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with ethnic Serb majorities or significant minorities, and attempted to conquer as much of Croatia as possible. Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but agreed to postpone it with the Brioni Agreement and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991. The JNA initially tried to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia by occupying all of Croatia. After this failed, Serb forces established
5658-426: The self-proclaimed proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) within Croatia which began with the Log Revolution . After the ceasefire of January 1992 and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia as a sovereign state, the front lines were entrenched, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed, and combat became largely intermittent in the following three years. During that time,
5740-430: The special police forces to be renamed Zbor Narodne Garde ("National Guard"); this marks the creation of a separate military of Croatia. Brioni Agreement The Brioni Agreement , also known as the Brioni Declaration ( Croatian : Brijunska deklaracija , Serbian : Brionska deklaracija , Serbian Cyrillic : Брионска декларација , Slovene : Brionska deklaracija , Bosnian : Brijunska deklaracija )
5822-427: The total population of Croatia, but the latter held a disproportionate number of official posts: 17.7% of appointed officials in Croatia, including police, were Serbs. An even greater proportion of those posts had been held by Serbs in Croatia earlier, which created a perception that the Serbs were guardians of the communist regime. Serbian politician and sociologist Vesna Pešić states that this caused discontent among
5904-599: The war, during the Plitvice Lakes incident in late March 1991. In March and April 1991, Serbs in Croatia began to make moves to secede from that territory. It is a matter of debate to what extent this move was locally motivated and to what degree the Milošević-led Serbian government was involved. In any event, the SAO Krajina was declared, which consisted of any Croatian territory with a substantial Serb population. The Croatian government viewed this move as
5986-436: Was also present, as were the Yugoslav federal foreign minister Budimir Lončar , interior minister Petar Gračanin and the deputy defence minister Vice Admiral Stane Brovet [ sr ] . Croatia was represented by President Franjo Tuđman while President Milan Kučan attended on behalf of Slovenia. Serbia was represented by Borisav Jović , a former Serbian member of the federal presidency who had resigned from
6068-690: Was an armed conflict fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia — which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) — and the Serb -controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat operations in Croatia by 1992. A majority of Croats supported Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, while many ethnic Serbs living in Croatia, supported by Serbia , opposed
6150-556: Was an attempt to counter changes made to the constitution. The Croatian government sent police forces to police stations in Serb-populated areas to seize their weapons. Among other incidents, local Serbs from the southern hinterlands of Croatia, mostly around the city of Knin , blocked roads to tourist destinations in Dalmatia. This incident is known as the " Log Revolution ". Years later, during Martić's trial, Babić claimed he
6232-409: Was discovered that Martin Špegelj had pursued a campaign to acquire arms through the black market in January 1991 an ultimatum was issued requesting disarming and disbanding of Croatian military forces considered illegal by the Yugoslav authorities. Croatian authorities refused to comply, and the Yugoslav army withdrew the ultimatum six days after it was issued. On 12 March 1991, the leadership of
6314-468: Was held in The Hague on 10 July. The ECMM helped calm several standoffs around military barracks in Slovenia and facilitated negotiations between Slovene authorities and the JNA regarding the withdrawal of the JNA from Slovenia. In Croatia, armed combat continued and the JNA shelled the city of Osijek the same evening the agreement was signed. The federal presidency ordered the complete withdrawal of
6396-478: Was initially formed during World War II to carry out guerrilla warfare against occupying Axis forces . The success of the Partisan movement led to the JNA basing much of its operational strategy on guerrilla warfare, as its plans normally entailed defending against NATO or Warsaw Pact attacks, where other types of warfare would put the JNA in a comparatively poor position. That approach led to maintenance of
6478-442: Was not present. In the 1970s, Yugoslavia's socialist regime became severely splintered into a liberal-decentralist nationalist faction led by Croatia and Slovenia that supported a decentralized federation to give greater autonomy to Croatia and Slovenia, versus a conservative-centralist nationalist faction led by Serbia that supported a centralized federation to secure Serbia's and the Serbs' interests across Yugoslavia—as they were
6560-775: Was prepared at the EC council of ministers in The Hague on 5 July. It consisted of a Joint Declaration, and two annexes detailing the creation of an environment suitable to further political negotiations and guidelines for an observer mission to Yugoslavia. The agreement, which became known as the Brioni Declaration or the Brioni Agreement, required the JNA and the TDS to return to their bases, and stipulated that Slovene officials were to control Slovenia's borders alone and that both Slovenia and Croatia were to suspend all activities stemming from their declarations of independence for three months. The observer mission set out by
6642-580: Was scheduled to assume the presidency after the Dutch. A further result of the EC delegation's mission were talks attended by representatives of the EC, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and the Yugoslav government. The talks were held at Brijuni Islands on 7 July. Besides the EC delegation, headed by van den Broek, five out of eight members of the federal presidency attended the talks—Mesić, Bogić Bogićević , Janez Drnovšek , Branko Kostić and Vasil Tupurkovski . The Yugoslav federal prime minister Ante Marković
6724-525: Was tricked by Martić into agreeing to the Log Revolution, and that it and the entire war in Croatia was Martić's responsibility, and had been orchestrated by Belgrade. The statement was corroborated by Martić in an interview published in 1991. Babić confirmed that by July 1991 Milošević had taken over control of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). The Croatian government responded to the blockade of roads by sending special police teams in helicopters to
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