Independence of Croatia
After the country formally declared independence in June 1991 and the dissolution of its association with Yugoslavia, it introduced a three-month moratorium on the decision when urged to do so by the European Community and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
[2] In the 1980s, the political situation in Yugoslavia deteriorated, with national tension fanned by the 1986 Serbian SANU Memorandum and the 1989 coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.
[3][4] As Slovenia and Croatia began to seek greater autonomy within the federation, including confederate status and even full independence, the nationalist ideas started to grow within the ranks of the still-ruling League of Communists.
[8] The general political situation grew more tense when in 1989 Vojislav Šešelj publicly consorted with Momčilo Đujić, a World War II Chetnik leader.
During his later trial, Babić would testify that there was a media campaign directed from Belgrade that portrayed the Serbs in Croatia as being threatened with genocide by the Croat majority and that he fell prey to this propaganda.
President Tuđman announced his manifesto for a new Constitution and a multitude of political, economic, and social changes, including a plan for Yugoslavia as a confederation of sovereign states.
[24] Nationalist Serbs in Croatia boycotted the Sabor and seized control of Serb-inhabited territory, setting up road blocks and voting for those areas to become autonomous.
[30] President Tuđman made several clumsy remarks — such as the one from a 16 April 1990 speech[33] that he was 'glad that his wife is not a Serb'[34] that the Croatian historian Ante Nazor has described as something taken out of context.
[33][better source needed] All this was deliberately distorted by Milošević's media in order to artificially spark fear that any form of an independent Croatia is a new "ustashe state": in one instance, TV Belgrade showed Tuđman shaking hands with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, accusing them of plotting to impose "a Fourth Reich".
[24] On 21 February 1991, Croatia declared its Constitution and laws supreme to that of the SFRY,[42] and the Parliament enacted a formal resolution on the process of disassociation (Croatian: razdruženje) from SFR Yugoslavia and possible new association with other sovereign republics.
[51] The European Economic Community and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe immediately urged both Croatia and Slovenia that they would not be recognized as independent states because of a fear of a civil war in Yugoslavia.
[58] The Brijuni Agreement was formally signed in a meeting of the European Community Ministerial Troika, the Yugoslav, Serbian, Slovenian and Croatian authorities on 7 July.
[60] The Badinter Arbitration Committee was set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) on 27 August 1991 to provide legal advice and criteria for recognition to former Yugoslav republics.
[62] On 7 October, the eve of expiration of the moratorium, the Yugoslav Air Force attacked Banski dvori, the main government building in Zagreb.
Kohl's position was opposed by France, the United Kingdom[69][page needed], and the Netherlands, but the countries agreed to pursue a common approach by following Germany's unilateral action.
On 10 October, two days after the Croatian Parliament confirmed the declaration of independence, the EEC decided to postpone any decision to recognize Croatia for two months.
German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher later wrote that the EEC decided to recognize Croatian independence in two months if the war had not ended by then.
France and the UK attempted to prevent German recognition by drafting a United Nations resolution requesting that no country take unilateral actions which could worsen the situation in Yugoslavia.
[72] Ultimately, France and the UK backed down during the Security Council debate on the matter on 14 December, when Germany appeared determined to defy the UN resolution.
On 17 December, the EEC formally agreed to grant Croatia diplomatic recognition on 15 January 1992, on the basis of its request and a positive opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Commission.
[60] In response to the decisions of the Badinter Commission, the RSK formally declared its separation from Croatia on 19 December, but its statehood and independence were not recognized internationally.
[77][78] In the period following the declaration of independence, the war escalated, with the sieges of Vukovar[79] and Dubrovnik,[80] and fighting elsewhere, until a ceasefire of 3 January 1992 led to stabilization and a significant reduction in violence.
