Prepared by the Department of Public Information, United Nations. This text was last updated effective 31 August 1996.
Not an official document of the United Nations.
HEADQUARTERS: Zagreb, Croatia
DURATION: March 1995 - January 1996
STRENGTH (November 1995): 6,581 troops, 194 military observers and 296 civilian police; they were supported by international and locally recruited civilian staff
FATALITIES: 16 (military personnel)
EXPENDITURES: see UNPROFOR
FUNCTION: Established on 31 March 1995 to replace UNPROFOR in Croatia. The troops and observers were deployed in Serb-controlled Western Slavonia, the Krajina region and Eastern Slavonia. Observers were also stationed in the Prevlaka peninsula. The new mandate included: (a) performing the functions envisaged in the cease-fire agreement of 29 March 1994; (b) facilitating implementation of the economic agreement of 2 December 1994; (c) facilitating implementation of all relevant Security Council resolutions; (d) assisting in controlling, by monitoring and reporting, the crossing of military personnel, equipment, supplies and weapons, over the international borders between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) at the border crossings; (e) facilitating the delivery of international humanitarian assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina through the territory of Croatia; and (f) monitoring the demilitarization of the Prevlaka peninsula. It was decided that UNCRO should be an interim arrangement to create the conditions that would facilitate a negotiated settlement consistent with the territorial integrity of Croatia and which would guarantee the security and rights of all communities living in Croatia. Croatia's reintegration by force of Western Slavonia and the Krajina region in May and August 1995 effectively eliminated the need for United Nations troops in those areas and their withdrawal was initiated. However, in Eastern Slavonia - the last Serb-controlled territory in Croatia - the mandate of UNCRO remained essentially unchanged. The Government of Croatia and the Croatian Serb leadership agreed to resolve the issue of Eastern Slavonia through negotiation. United Nations-sponsored talks concluded with the signing of the Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium on 12 November. The Agreement provided for the peaceful integration into Croatia of that region and requested the Security Council to establish a transitional administration to govern the region during the transitional period. Following the establishment of the United Nations administration, the mandate of UNCRO was terminated on 15 January 1996
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