Australian peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2004

Political change in the region

Yugoslavia first emerged in the early 20th century, after the Ottoman Empire ended its rule in 1913 and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated in World War I. After inter-ethnic conflict began in 1991, the UN sent a peacekeeping force. The conflict ultimately led to Yugoslavia's breakup. From its creation to its collapse in 2003, Yugoslavia went through several major political changes.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1919 to 1941

In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference redrew the Balkan Peninsula's borders, creating a new state. This was initially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

From the start, governing such a diverse state proved difficult. In 1929, King Alexander I dissolved parliament and declared a royal dictatorship, renaming the country the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1941, during World War II, the Axis powers – Germany and Italy – invaded Yugoslavia. They supported the Croatian fascist and ultranationalist group Ustaše. The group committed genocide against Serbian, Jewish and Roma people, and executed anti-fascist Bosniaks and Croats, and other political opponents.

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1946 to 1991

From the 1941 invasion to the end of World War II in 1945, resistance fighters fought to liberate Yugoslavia. Led by Josip Broz Tito, a communist, these partisans had Allied support.

After the war, Tito was elected prime minister of the newly created Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The country's constitution was modelled on the Soviet Union's.

The republic's borders and structure differed slightly from those before the war. The nation comprised 6 republics that were nominally equal:

• Croatia
• Montenegro
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Macedonia.

Two autonomous provinces within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina, were ethnically Albanian and Magyar (Hungarian), respectively.

For more than 30 years, Tito exercised strong central control that largely kept inter-ethnic tensions in check.

Following Tito's death in 1980, Yugoslavia suffered serious economic problems, especially high inflation and unemployment. The International Monetary Fund demanded economic restructuring as a condition of a bailout. This caused animosity between the wealthier northern and western regions and the poorer southern and eastern ones. Long-held tensions quickly escalated into conflict.

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Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 2003

On 25 June 1991, Croatia and Slovenia declared independence from the Yugoslav federation. On 19 December, Macedonia followed. Between February and March 1992, Bosniaks and Croats officially voted to secede.

The country was plunged into civil war.

On 27 April 1992, Serbia and Montenegro created a new federation with a nominally democratic structure.

Between 1991 and 2003, a series of separate but related inter-ethnic conflicts occurred, known as the Yugoslav Wars:

• 1991 – Ten-Day War in Slovenia
• 1991–1995 – Croatian War of Independence
• 1992–1995 – Bosnian War
• 1998–1999 – Kosovo War
• 1999–2001 – Insurgency in the Preševo Valley
• 2001 – Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia.

The escalation of these conflicts caused the UN to send a peacekeeping force in 1992.

United Nations Protection Force from 1992 to 1996

During the Croatian War of Independence, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 743 on 21 February 1992, creating the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR).

The peacekeeping force was made up of nearly 39,000 troops from 42 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).

At its final restructuring in March 1995, UNPROFOR had 38,599 military personnel, including:

• 684 UN military observers
• 803 civilian police
• 2,017 other international civilian staff
• 2,615 local staff.

Several hundred members of UNPROFOR were killed in service, and hundreds more were wounded. There were no Australian casualties.

UNPROFOR had mandates in both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its role varied by country and situation. Generally, UNPROFOR was tasked with creating safe conditions for peace talks by demilitarising certain areas.

Croatia

Croatia broke away (seceded) from Yugoslavia in 1991. Following this, Serbs in Croatia who opposed independence declared their own secession from Croatia. This led to a Serbian insurgency, with clashes between Serbian paramilitaries and Croatian police.

UNPROFOR's initial mandate in Croatia was to:

• ensure stable conditions for peace talks
• establish 3 UN Protected Areas, which were demilitarised 'safe-haven' enclaves for civilian residents.

The Croatian War of Independence lasted about 6 months, from July to December 1991.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In 1992, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina broke away from Yugoslavia and became independent. Its population included Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. Following independence, Bosnian Serb forces began an insurgency to create the breakaway Republic of Srpska. The Serbian government under Slobodan Milošević and the Yugoslav People's Army supported them. In areas under Serb control, non-Serb populations, especially the Bosniaks, were subject to ethnic cleansing – the killing or forced removal of a specific ethnic population.

UNPROFOR's mandate in Bosnia and Herzegovina had 4 phases:

• Phase 1 – aid to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Phase 2 – escort of humanitarian aid
• Phase 3 – protection of safe areas
• Phase 4 – monitoring the Muslim–Croat Federation and Weapons Exclusion Zones.

Phase 1 began on 5 June 1992. UNPROFOR was responsible for protecting Sarajevo Airport so that international aid could be delivered, and for safeguarding a humanitarian corridor between the airport and the city.

Phase 2 began on 14 September 1992. UNPROFOR's mandate was extended to protect international humanitarian organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. This included scheduling convoys and negotiating safe passage. UNPROFOR troops were also permitted to use self-defence if armed people tried to prevent them from carrying out their mandate.

Phase 3 began on 16 April 1993, when the UN Security Council passed a resolution expanding UNPROFOR's mandate and declaring the town of Srebrenica a 'safe area'. In May, the UN added 5 other 'safe areas', including Sarajevo. The Srebrenica 'safe area' would become one of UNPROFOR's most disastrous failures to protect civilian lives.

Phase 4, from February 1994, was the monitoring of a US-brokered ceasefire that created the Muslim–Croat Federation.

In December 1995, the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia signed the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as the Dayton Peace Accords. Afterwards, UNPROFOR was absorbed into the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR), tasked with implementing the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords.

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Australia's involvement

Australia was involved with the UN mission in Yugoslavia from the start.

In January 1992, the UN established the UN Military Liaison Officers in Yugoslavia (UNMLOY), which became UNPROFOR in June 1992.

On 11 January 1992, Australian Army Colonel (later Brigadier) John Wilson took command of UNMLOY. He served as Chief Military Observer of UNPROFOR's Observer Group until December 1992.

The Australian Government was reluctant to directly commit troops to UNPROFOR for domestic political reasons. However, between 1992 and 1996, more than 50 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel served with UNPROFOR on exchange postings with British, US or Canadian forces. These were known as 'third-country deployments'.

Later, ADF personnel were also attached to NATO and served in IFOR and SFOR.

When Colonel Wilson arrived in Sarajevo to command UNMLOY, he found the situation highly dangerous. He and his staff frequently came under fire from mortars, artillery and snipers.

The situation in Sarajevo is as presented in the media. It has many similarities to Beirut. Food is difficult to purchase, artillery and mortar fire into the city is constant. Sniper fire necessitates quick movement by vehicle between locations... In the past four months, apart from collateral fire, I have had my hotel room destroyed by artillery, my apartment damaged by mortar, my vehicle destroyed by RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] fire, been mortared by 82 mm twice and small-arms (sniper fire) twice.

[Colonel John Wilson, letter dated 11 May 1992, quoted in 'Roads not taken: Australian peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia', The Good International Citizen.]

Failure of UNPROFOR

While UNPROFOR's initial mission in Croatia – monitoring the ceasefire line – was successful, its mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina was widely seen as a massive failure of international peacekeeping.

In 1996, the Australian House of Representatives' Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade tabled a report in Parliament on Australia's response to the Bosnia crisis. The report noted criticisms made by the then UN Secretary-General, Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali, about how the international response had been 'upside down'. UN peacekeepers were sent into an active war zone, while NATO combat troops weren't deployed until after the peace agreement was signed.

This has never been done before. In war situations the international community should authorise the combat forces needed to deal with it. Where a ceasefire is in place and where the consent and cooperation of the parties is reliable, peacekeepers should be deployed.

[UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, quoted in House of Representatives Committees – Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Completed Inquiry: Bosnia - Australia's Response, 25 January 1996]

In Bosnia, UNPROFOR was doomed, almost from the start. While the UN Security Council kept extending the force's responsibilities, it did not provide more resources.

It was also unclear whether UNPROFOR troops were active 'peace enforcers' – although they didn't have the arms, resources or power to actively enforce peace – or 'peacekeepers'. As peacekeepers, they were required to be impartial, let the opposing parties resolve their own conflicts, and act only with the parties' consent.

But at the time, there was no peace to be kept. Bosnia was an active war zone, but UNPROFOR had no mandate to use military force other than self-defence.

This culminated in one of UNPROFOR's most tragic failures – the Srebrenica massacre.

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Srebrenica massacre of July 1995

Srebrenica was strategically important because it linked 2 areas of the breakaway Republic of Srpska. Its capture and 'cleansing' would unify Serb rule in the area and undermine the Bosniak Muslim state. Approximately 73% of Srebrenica's population was Bosniak Muslim, while 25% was Bosnian Serb.

Between 1992 and 1995, vicious fighting occurred. In a siege of Srebrenica by Serb forces, many Bosniak civilians starved to death. Serb forces blocked international humanitarian relief into the town, including food and medicine.

In April 1993, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 819, declaring Srebrenica a 'safe area' and demanding that 'all parties and others concerned treat Srebrenica and its surroundings as a safe area that should be free from any armed attack or any other hostile act.'

Two days later, UNPROFOR deployed its first peacekeeping troops to Srebrenica, primarily British, Canadian and Dutch troops. No Australians were deployed at this time.

In May 1993, both parties agreed to demilitarise Srebrenica. However, the demilitarisation never happened, even though the area remained relatively stable for the next 2 years.

The situation deteriorated in early 1995 as the humanitarian corridor into Srebrenica gradually closed. Civilians and troops, including UN forces, began to run low on food, medicine and other essentials. There were reports of civilians starving to death.

Between 6 and 11 July, Serb forces led by Ratklo Mladić began to overrun the 'safe area'. The Serbs captured all 5 UN observation posts south of the enclave. Some Dutch peacekeepers retreated into the town, while others surrendered.

The Serb forces began to move through Bosniak areas, killing Bosniak people as they went. Emboldened by the international community's lack of response, Mladić ordered his forces to capture Srebrenica on 9 July. By 11 July, despite NATO airstrikes, the Serbs had succeeded.

NATO cancelled further airstrikes after Serb forces threatened to bomb the UN compound at Potočari, kill their French and Dutch military hostages, and attack civilian refugee areas.

What followed over the next 3 weeks has been documented in Human Rights Watch investigations. Bosnian Serb forces carried out systematic, mass executions of hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilian men and boys and terrorised, raped, beat, executed, robbed and otherwise abused civilians being deported from the area.

Following a mandate that they could only use force for self-defence, UN peacekeepers were unable to stop the violence.

In 2007, survivors and relatives of those killed in the Srebrenica massacre brought a civil lawsuit against the UN. They alleged its peacekeepers were responsible for the deaths. Both Netherlands courts and the European Court of Human Rights rejected the claim on the grounds that the UN is immune from prosecution.

In 2014, the organisation Mothers of Srebrenica brought a civil suit against the Netherlands government. On 16 July 2014, a civil court in The Hague ruled that the Netherlands was liable for the deaths of around 300 men who were evicted from the Netherlands compound at Srebrenica.

Implementation Force from 1995 to 1996

Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force with a one-year mandate in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established after the Dayton Peace Accords were signed in December 1995 and replaced UNPROFOR.

'Peace enforcement' meant it could use military force to compel peace between combatants, if necessary, against their will. This differed from UNPROFOR's 'peacekeeping' mandate, where troops had to be impartial and could only act with the consent of the conflicting parties.

Around 60,000 NATO troops, along with those from non-NATO countries, were deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina. At its height, IFOR had around 80,000 troops from 32 countries. Of these, 54,000 served in-country, with others on reserve in neighbouring countries or aboard ships in the Adriatic Sea. Many of these troops were in units that had originally served with UNPROFOR.

During its year-long mission, IFOR:

• caused hostilities to cease and maintained peace
• separated the armed forces of the Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Bosnian-Serb Republika Srpska
• transferred territories between the 2 sides
• moved the 2 sides' forces and heavy weapons into approved sites
• patrolled the 1,400 km demilitarised zone known as the Inter-Entity Boundary Line
• regularly inspected over 800 weapons and equipment sites.

IFOR also repaired and replaced critical infrastructure, and supported the rebuilding of civil society functions.

By the end of its mission, IFOR had:

• opened 2,500 km of roads
• repaired or replaced over 60 bridges
• freed up Sarajevo Airport and key railway lines
• supported the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to prepare and conduct elections in September 1996.

Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996 to 2004

Bosnia held elections in September 1996.

After IFOR's mandate expired in December 1996, NATO's Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) took over.

IFOR had successfully completed its mission to implement the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords. Now NATO needed to focus its support on developing civilian institutions and stabilising the fragile peace.

SFOR had the same peace-enforcement mandate as IFOR and could use the same level of force if necessary. But its main goals were to:

• stabilise the security environment to allow local and national authorities and international organisations to do their work
• provide support to other agencies, including civilian organisations.

Initially, SFOR had around 32,000 troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina, around half the size of IFOR. Like IFOR, it included personnel from every NATO country, as well as non-NATO countries. Australia and New Zealand participated by special agreement with the UK. Notably, Russia, NATO's traditional adversary, also participated in both IFOR and SFOR.

After a 1999 restructuring, troop numbers gradually fell to about 12,000 by 2003.

Australia's involvement

From 1 December 1996, Australia authorised 6 ADF officers to deploy on 6-month rotations with SFOR under Operation Osier.

Before Operation Osier, Australians serving in the region were attached to British units.

The first personnel deployed under Operation Osier arrived in January 1997.

Australia agreed to continue its commitment of a rotating small group of officers into August 2001. These officers could be deployed to Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia. Australia renewed its commitment to Operation Osier in 2002 and 2003, with a final extension to the end of February 2004.

Australia withdrew its last ADF officers from SFOR on 29 February 2004.

In the aftermath of the Bosnian War, 14 contingents of ADF personnel were sent to the Balkans under Operation Osier. Some 118 ADF officers served with that operation between March 1997 and February 2004.

Although only a small component of SFOR, the Australians earned the respect of other nationals while performing their duties. Major-General Freddie Viggers, General Officer Commanding the Multi-National Division (South-West) within IFOR, said:

Since taking command and dealing with the many nationalities, those that I have come to know from Australia, without exception, have given me their complete support and loyalty in fulfilment of their duties –I could not have wanted more.

[Sir Frederick Viggers, British Army, quoted in Army Magazine, 2000.]

Lieutenant Mark Croxford, a Navy supply officer, deployed on Operation Osier in 1997. He used his public relations experience as a media liaison officer. Croxford described travelling through the countryside from the Croatian port of Split to SFOR Headquarters in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka:

[The drive took us] through the most spectacular countryside the Balkans has to offer. Undulating valleys, rugged mountain ranges, gorges, snow, villages and cities. Unfortunately many of these areas bore the scars of the war that raged for years. It didn't take long to gauge the extent of the 'ethnic cleansing' that occurred during the war. Many of the villages along the route had been totally destroyed and remain as ghostly shells.

[Mark Croxford, quoted in 'Occasional Paper 201: 'Trouble in the Balkans' The Royal Australian Navy in Yugoslavia'.]

Australian Major Andrew Moore served in the former Yugoslavia on exchange with the British Army's 2 Close Support Battalion REME. As the Officer Commanding Close Support Company, Moore was responsible for providing second-line repair and recovery support to all units throughout Bosnia. While there, he confirmed that everyone remained vigilant about the constant threat of landmines.

When the vehicles break down, the SOP is that they don't leave the bitumen ... Our recovery teams will only follow routes cleared by ROyal Engineers, so if a vehicle leaves the road in an accident REs must clear the site before we can do anythign. Annother challenging aspect of this operation is the assortment of vehicles from different nations the unit deals with. In this environment flexibilty is important and working on such a variety of vehicles, including those from the former Eastern Bloc countries, proves very interesting.

[Andrew Moore, quoted in 'Bosnia', Army.]

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European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina

In December 2004, the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR) replaced SFOR under Operation Althea.

EUFOR was responsible for implementing the civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords. By 2007, EUFOR had been reduced to 1,600 personnel, and by 2019 it had just 600 personnel in-country.

EUFOR still has a presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, undertaking training and capacity-building with the Bosnian armed forces.

Australia did not contribute any personnel to EUFOR.

Kosovo Force from 1999 to present

In 1998, the region again erupted into conflict when fighting broke out in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

The fighting was between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), representing the local Kosovo people, who were mostly ethnic Albanians.

The KLA had been seeking independence since 1995. Serbian forces retaliated brutally against the KLA, displacing 1 million Albanian Kosovar civilians into refugee camps.

Hostilities ended following a NATO bombing campaign (Operation Allied Force) targeting Federal Republic of Yugoslavia forces between March and June 1999.

NATO has led the Kosovo Force (KFOR) international peace mission in the Balkans since 11 June 1999.

KFOR's original objectives were to:

• deter renewed hostilities
• establish a secure environment and ensure public safety and order
• demilitarise the Kosovo Liberation Army
• support the international humanitarian effort
• coordinate with the international civil presence.

In 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Over 100 UN member states now formally recognise the Republic of Kosovo, including Australia.

KFOR continues to help maintain a safe and secure environment for all people and communities living in Kosovo and to ensure freedom of movement.

Australia's involvement

Australia did not send an official contingent to KFOR.

Between 1999 and 2004, ADF personnel served in Kosovo on exchange, attached to British and US units under:

• Operation Agricola in 1999 (NATO peace operation)
• Operation Allied Force in 1999 (NATO air campaign)
• Operation Joint Guardian from 1999 to 2004 (NATO peace operation).

Aftermath

Refugees to Australia

In early May 1999, the first of about 4,000 Kosovar refugees arrived in Australia on temporary 'safe-haven' visas under a UN arrangement. In July 1999, the UN declared Kosovo safe for refugees to return, and most returned. Around 500 chose to stay and were allowed to remain in Australia.

War crimes trials

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a UN body established to prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars from 1991. The UN established it on 25 May 1993, while the conflict was ongoing.

The ICTY oversaw 4 types of war crimes:

• grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions
• violations of the laws or customs of war
• genocide
• crimes against humanity.

Of the 161 people tried for war crimes charges, 90 were convicted and sentenced.

The ICTY issued its last judgement on 29 November 2017.

Commemoration

Some 260 ADF personnel served in the former Yugoslavia with:

• UN peacekeeping activities between January 1992 and January 1997 (warlike service)
• NATO Stabilisation Force – Former Republic of Yugoslavia between January 1997 and December 2011 (non-warlike service under Operation Osier).

During this period, ADF personnel also served in NATO air operations against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between April and June 1999 (warlike service in an allied force). This coercive military and air campaign was separate from NATO's peace support operations.

Personnel who meet the criteria may be eligible for the following medals:

• Australian Active Service Medal with Balkans clasp for UN peacekeeping activities in the former Yugoslavia
• Australian Service Medal with Balkans clasp for Operation Osier
• NATO Medal for the Former Yugoslavia.

The NATO medal is one of many foreign honours and awards that Australians may accept and wear.

National Peacekeepers' Day

On 14 September each year, we observe National Peacekeepers' Day. It marks the anniversary of Australia becoming the world's first peacekeepers to deploy into the field, in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia), in 1947. It's a day to recognise the important work of those who have served, and continue to serve, in the name of global peace.

Learn more about Australia's peacekeeping missions since 1947.

International Day of UN Peacekeepers

29 May is a UN day to commemorate and acknowledge all people who have served as UN peacekeepers, including military, police and civilian personnel. Since UN peacekeeping began, more than 4,000 peacekeepers from many countries have lost their lives while performing their duties under the UN flag.