Country/entity

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Yugoslavia (former)

Region

Europe and Eurasia

Agreement name

Declaration

Date

22 Oct 1993

Agreement status

Multiparty signed/agreed

Interim arrangement

Yes

Agreement/conflict level

Intrastate/local conflict

Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001)

Former Yugoslavia

The disintegration of former Yugoslavia post cold war saw conflicts which became mediated and produced peace agreements in Slovenia (where the brief independence conflict was mediated by the EC Troika in 1991), Croatia (between Croatian and Serb populations 1991-1995), in Bosnia (between Croatian, Serb and Bosniak populations 1992-1995), in Macedonia (where mediation played a key pre-emptive role in preventing large scale conflict in 2001), in Kosovo (between Kosovar Albanians and Serbian population and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), but also between FRY and NATO, 1998-1999), and a conflict in the Presevo Valley (between Albanians in South Serbia and FRY, 2000-2001). The continued fall-out of the disintegration of former Yugoslavia also saw mediated agreement and ultimate dissolution of the Union between Serbia and Montenegro.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

In 1991, after nationalist parties won the first multi-party elections in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a violent process of disintegration commenced. With its mixed population, Bosnia-Herzegovina became the centre of the following civil war that began in 1992 between the newly formed army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly Muslim Bosniacs), and the parastatal forces of self-declared Bosnian Croat (Herzeg-Bosnia) and Bosnian Serb (Republika Srpska) entities within Bosnia-Herzegovina, supported by Croatia and Serbia, with various, often short-lived, coalitions. The General Framework Agreement (Dayton Peace Agreement), signed in 1995, split the country into two ethno-federal entities, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska, and included continued peacekeeping and institutional administration by international actors.

Kosovo

The conflict between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians has a long history and always involved territorial disputes as well as ethno-political, cultural and linguistic factors. The most recent phase of the conflict began in November 1997 when the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or UCK) began their campaign for the independence of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY – then Serbia and Montenegro). The subsequent war lasted until the NATO intervention, which undertook bombing campaigns of Belgrade and other places in Serbia during spring 1999. The main agreements solving the conflict were internationally driven and, finally, a UNSC resolution imposed a post-conflict arrangement in the wake of what was essentially a NATO military victory. In February 2008, Kosovo’s parliament declared independence, but independence is still internationally disputed.

Close

Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001)

Stage

Implementation/renegotiation

Conflict nature

Government/territory

Peace process

Bosnia Local peace processes

Parties

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA Dr Radovan Karadzic; PRESIDENT OF THE AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF WESTERN BOSNIA OF THE REPUBLIC OF BOSNIA Fikret Abdic

Third parties

Witness to the agreement achieved, and assuming the obligation to mediate in the case of difficulties arising in its implementation: PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA Slobodan Milosevic

Description

This short agreement provides for mutual recognition between the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia and Republika Srpska. It also guarantees all fundamental freedoms and human rights, in accordance with the Owen-Stoltenberg Peace Plan.

Agreement document

BA_931022_Declaration (Autonomous Province of West Bosnia).pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF

Local agreement properties

Process type

Informal but persistent process

Rationale

This agreement is one of several between the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia and other self-declared republics, that was conducted without the approval of the Bosnian government and outside of the formal national peace talks, relating to the status of the Bihac region in northwestern Bosnia.

Is there a documented link to a national peace process?

No

Link to national process: articulated rationale

This agreement makes several references to being in accordance with the Owen and Stoltenberg Peace Plan. However, the agreement is made between the leader of a newly self-declared autonomous province and a second self-declared republic, and secondary sources suggest that this was agreed in a process that was conducted in parallel to and contradiction of the national peace process.

Name of Locale

Western Bosnia

Nature of Locale

Region

GPS Lat/Long (DD)

44.812905, 15.870652

Participant type

Local armed group
International or transnational actor

Mediator, facilitator or similar

Mediator or similar referred to

Mediator (references)

Listed in the agreement as 'Witness to the agreement achieved and assuming the obligation to mediate in the case of difficulties arising in its implementation: President of the Republic of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic'

Type of mediator/facilitator/similar

International or transnational actor

Local issues

Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture)

No specific mention.

Grievance List

No specific mention.

Cattle rustling/banditry

No specific mention.

Social cover

No specific mention.