1997 Eastern Slavonia integrity referendum was held on 6 April in short-lived Serb parallel entity of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia which at the time was already governed by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) as an UN governed territory.

[1] Voters were asked whether they supported the proposal for the region of Eastern Slavonia to remain a single territorial oblast within Croatia after the end of UNTAES mandate instead of division into Vukovar-Syrmia and Osijek-Baranja County.

[4] Referendum was organized by the parallel Serb bodies in the region ahead of the 1997 Croatian local elections with Spokesperson for the United States Department of State R. Nicholas Burns encouraging all citizens of Croatia, Croats and Serbs, to participate in Croatian local elections.

[5] From the beginning the referendum initiative was perceived as an internal political struggle between the moderates (at the time led by Vojislav Stanimirović) and hawkish (led by Goran Hadžić) group among the local Serb political leadership.

[6] Following the referendum, Vojislav Stanimirović met with the President of Croatia Franjo Tuđman where he stated his belief that "the best option would be a Serb county, but if neither Croatia nor the international community is willing to accept it then the formation of the council of Serb municipalities as planned in Erdut Agreement is the second-best option".