United Nations Protection Force

UN Protective Force

UN PROFOR

Location:

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Headquarters:

Zagreb

Duration:

February 1992 - March 1995

Serious fighting in Croatia began in June 1991 when the Republic and its northern neighbour, Slovenia, declared themselves independent from Yugoslavia.

Serbs living in Croatia, supported by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), opposed this move.

Efforts by the European Community to stop the hostilities in mid-1991 and to resolve the crisis in the framework of the Conference on Yugoslavia had proved unsuccessful.

The United Nations became actively involved in the situation in Yugoslavia on 25 September 1991 when the Security Council called on all member States to implement a

"Complete and general embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Yugoslavia"

In June 1992 the conflict extended into Bosnis and Herzegovina.

As a result the UN intervened in Bosnia to protect the security and functionality of Sarajevo airport, delivery of humanitarian aid and travelling refugees in the area.

In addition, the UN monitored a "no-fly" zone, banning all military flights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the United Nations "safe areas" established by the Security Council around five Bosnian towns and the city of Sarajevo.

Political

Political

The international response to the growing crisis was not uniform, the Germans and Austrians were closely connected to Yugoslav Croats and Slovenes, while the Greeks & Russian Governments had closer ties to Serb communities and Turkey had often been focused with Albanian and Bosnian communities.

Europe was not ready to be the leader in a collective security system, opinions on how to deal with the crisis were not uniform.

The EU was still in its initial stages of establishing a Common Foreign and Security Policy. France and the U.K were well aware of the growing situation but wished to contain the conflict but avoiding a partisan ground combat role.

During the early 1990’s the United States was preoccupied with the events in the gulf and argued that it was Europe’s war.

Initially, the US wanted to stay out and cooperated with others to contain the violence and relieve human suffering, but only to the extent feasible without us combat troops on the ground.

In October 1992, 2,400 British troops deployed to Bosnia and Croatia under Operation Grapple and became operational in November.

They were tasked with providing armed escort to United Nations humanitarian aid convoys.

Military

39000 personnel were deployed from 42 nations:

Portugal

the Russian Federation

Slovak Republic

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Tunisia

Turkey

Ukraine,

United Kingdom

United States

Indonesia

Ireland

Italy

Jordan

Kenya

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malaysia

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Pakistan

Poland

Argentina

Australia

Bangladesh

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

Colombia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Egypt

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Ghana

India

Main contributions:

• Cheshire regiment- line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. Motto "ever glorious"

• 9th and 12th Lancers- armoured cavalry regiment in 1 Armoured Infantry Brigade. Motto: ‘Death or Glory’.

Mission:

• Navigate the difficult terrain to find an alternative route to the UN base in Vietz due to the proximity of the Serbs rendering the main route unsafe

• Provide an armed escorted to create a safe passage for humanitarian aid

• End the war under operation Grapple by the use of air strikes to allow the Muslims and Croats to make ground

Unprofor was formed in 1992 and the mandate ended in 1995.

In this time there were 167 fatalities including:

• 3 military observers

• 159 military personnel

• 1 civilian police

• 2 civilian staff

Of these fatalities, 59 were British troops.

Economic

Economic

The economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is traditional upper middle class income economy.

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from socialists Yugoslavia on 1st March 1992.

The economy suffered heavily from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina with over €200 billion in material damages and GPD.

Reduced by 90% between 1990 and 1995.

The Bosnian war not only destroyed the socialist republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been one if 6 constituents republics of SFRY, but also prepared social and political conditions for reconstruction

After the war and great destruction Bosnia and Herzegovina was reconstructed by the Dayton agreement reflection the intervention of the USA and Western European states as very complex and fragmented federation in the political sphere.

Social

Yugoslavia

Made up of six different republics;

• Slovenia
• Croatia
• Bosnia - Herzegovina
• Serbia
• Montenegro
• Macedonia

A few of these republics were made up of just one ethnic group, the main three being;

• Croats
• Serbs
• Bosniaks

The central republic of Bosnia was particularly effected by the conflict due to the significant numbers of Croats, Serbs & Bosniaks

The Serb faction was against Bosnian independance from Yugoslavia and threatened violence if independance was gained.

Although Bosnia was granted European permission to become an independant state after a 1992 referendum, the conflict started regardless

Ethnic cleansing displaced over 1,000,000 Bosniaks and Croats

Death tolls reached over 100,000 between the opposing factions

Infastructure