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Republic of Serbian Krajina
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The Republic of Serbian Krajina abbreviated RSK (; sometimes also translated "Republic of Serb Krajina") was a self-proclaimed Serbian dominated entity within Croatia during the 1990s. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally.
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The Republic of Serbian Krajina abbreviated RSK (; sometimes also translated "Republic of Serb Krajina") was a self-proclaimed Serbian dominated entity within Croatia during the 1990s. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. Its main portion was overrun by Croatian forces in 1995; a rump remained in existence in eastern Slavonia under UN administration until its peaceful reincorporation into Croatia in 1998.
Origins of the name Krajina
The name Krajina was adopted from the Military Frontier that was carved out of parts of the crown lands of Croatia and Slavonia by Austria in 1553–1578 as a means of defending against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Many Croats, Serbs and Vlachs immigrated from nearby parts of Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Bosnia and Serbia) into the region and helped bolster and replenish the numbers of Croats as well as the garrisoned German troops in the fight against the Ottomans. The Austrians controlled the Frontier from military headquarters in Vienna and did not make it a crown land, though it had some special rights in order to encourage settlement in an otherwise deserted, war-ravaged territory. The abolition of the military rule took place between 1869 and 1871. In order to attract Serbs to be part of Croatia on 11.5.1867 the Sabor solemnly declared that "the Triune Kingdom recognizes the Serbian/Vlach people living in it as a nation identical and equal with the Croatian nation." After that, the Military Frontier was reincorporated in Croatia in 1881.
Following World War I, the regions formerly part of the Military Frontier became part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia where it was in the Sava Banovina with most of old Croatia-Slavonia. Between the two world wars the Serbs of the Croatian and Slavonian Krajinas, as well as the Bosnian Krajina and other regions west of Serbia, organized a notable political party, the Independent Democratic Party under Svetozar Pribicevic. In the new state there existed much tension between the Croats and Serbs over differing political visions, with the campaign for Croatian autonomy culminating in the assassination of their leader Stjepan Radic in the parliament and repression by the Serb dominated security structures.
Between 1939–1941, in an attempt to resolve the Croat-Serb political and social antagonism in the first Yugoslavia, an autonomous Banovina of Croatia was created incorporating (amongst other territories) much of the former Military Frontier as well as parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1941, the axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and in the aftermath the Independent State of Croatia (which included whole of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of Serbia (Eastern Syrmia) as well) was declared. The Ustaše (who were allegedly behind the assassination of the Serbian king of Yugoslavia) were installed by the Germans as rulers of the new country and promptly pursued a genocidal policy of persecution of Serbs, Jews and Croats (from opposition groups) leading to hundreds of thousands being killed. During this period, Croats coalesced around the ruling authorities or the communist anti-fascist Partisans. Serbs from around the Knin area tended to join the chetniks, whilst Serbs from the Banija and Slavonia regions tended to join the Partisans.
At the end of the war, the communist dominated Partisans prevailed and the region was part of the People's Republic of Croatia until 7 April 1963, when the federal republic changed its name to the Socialist Republic of Croatia. The autonomous political organisations of the region were also suppressed by Tito (along with others such as the Croatian Spring); however, the Yugoslav constitutions of 1965 and 1974 did give substantial rights to national minorities including the Serbs in SR Croatia.
The Serbian "Krajina" entity to emerge upon Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991 would include three kinds of territories:
- a large section of the historical Military Frontier, in areas with a minority of Serbian population;
- areas such as parts of northern Dalmatia, that were never part of the Frontier but had a majority or a plurality of Serbian population, including the self-proclaimed entity's capital, Knin;
- areas that bordered with Serbia and where Serbs are significant minority (Baranja, Vukovar).
It should also be noted that large sections of the historical Military Frontier were outside of the Republic of Serb Krajina and contained a largely Croat population including much of Lika, the area centred around the city of Bjelovar, central and south-eastern Slavonia.
The creation of the RSK
The Serb-populated regions in Croatia were of central concern to the Serbian popular movement of the late 1980s, led respectively by Slobodan Miloševic. The incidents started in 1988 and turned into full-scale Serbian political rallies in 1989. The Croatian pro-indepdendence victory in 1990 made matters more tense, especially since the country's Serbian minority was supported both politically and militarily by the Yugoslav People's Army, especially Serbian President Miloševic. At the time, Serbs comprised about 12.2% of Croatia's population: 581,663 people declared themselves Serbs in the census of 1991.
Serbs became opposed to the policies of Tudman, who became elected president in April 1990, because of his unhidden desire for an independent Croatia and on 30 May 1990 Serb Democratic Party of Jovan Raškovic will breaks off all relations with the Croatian parliament. During June Serbs led by Serb Democratic Party will proclaim creation of the Association of the municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika in Knin and in Serbs in August 1990 they will start rebellion in an event which is known as the Log Revolution, where barricades of logs were erected across roads throughout the south in August 1990 as a physical expression of separation from Croatia, which effectively severed Croatia in two, with the coastal region of Dalmatia separated from the rest of the country. The Croatian constitution was passed in December 1990 which put Serbs in a minority category along with other ethnic groups such as the Italians, Hungarians, and others. Some would later justify their claim to an independent Serb state by arguing that the new constitution contradicted the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, because in their view, Croatia was still legally governed by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. But as Yugoslavia continued to show signs of fragmentation, and Croatian leaders officially insisted on the goal of an independent Croatia which will be member of Yugoslav confederation of independent states.
Serbs in Croatia had established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian independence, believing that if Croatia could leave Yugoslavia, then they could leave Croatia. Milan Babic, a dentist from the southern town of Knin, was elected its president. Latter during his trial Babic will declare about events in 1990-92:
"during the events, and in particular at the beginning of his political career, he was strongly influenced and misled by Serbian propaganda ,which repeatedly referred to an imminent threat of genocide by the Croatian regime against the Serbs in Croatia, thus creating an atmosphere of hatred and fear of the Croats"
The rebel Croatian Serbs established a number of paramilitary militias under the leadership of Milan Martic, the police chief in Knin.
In August 1990, a referendum was held in the Krajina on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. The resolution was confined exclusively to Serbs so it passed by a majority of 99.7%. As expected, it was declared illegal and invalid by the Croatian government, who stated that Serbs had no constitutional right to break away from Croatian legal territory.
Babic's administration announced the creation of a Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina (or SAO Krajina) on December 21, 1990. On March 16 1991 another referendum was held which asked "Are you in favour of the SAO Krajina joining the Republic of Serbia and staying in Yugoslavia with Serbia, Montenegro and others who wish to preserve Yugoslavia?". With 99.8% voting in favour, the referendum was approved and the Krajina assembly declared that "the territory of the SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified state territory of the Republic of Serbia". On April 1, 1991, it declared that it would secede from Croatia. Other Serb-dominated communities in eastern Croatia announced that they would also join SAO Krajina and ceased paying taxes to the Zagreb government, and began implementing its own currency system, army regiments, and postal service.
Croatia held a referendum on independence on May 19, 1991, in which the electorate—minus many Serbs, who chose to boycott it—voted overwhelmingly for independence with the option of confederate union with other Yugoslav states. On June 25, 1991, Croatia and Slovenia both declared their independence from Yugoslavia. As the JNA attempted unsuccessfully to suppress Slovenia's independence in the short Slovenian War, clashes between rebelled Croatian Serbs and Croatian security forces broke out almost immediately, leaving dozens dead on both sides. Serbs calling themselves Chetniks were supported by the remnants of the JNA (whose members were now only from Serbia and Montenegro), which provided them military arms. Many Croatians fled their homes in fear, or were forced out by the rebel Serbs. The European Union and United Nations attempted to broker ceasefires and peace settlements, but all to no avail.
Around August 1991, the leadership of the Serbian Krajina, and that of Serbia, allegedly agreed to embark on a campaign which the war crimes prosecutors would later describe as a "joint criminal enterprise which consisted of permanently and forcibly removing the non-Serb population of Krajina in order to make them part of a new Serb-dominated state". The leaders are documented to have included Milan Babic, and other rebelled Croatian Serbs' figures such as Milan Martic, the Serbian militia leader Vojislav Šešelj and Yugoslav Army commanders including General Ratko Mladic, who was at the time the commander of JNA forces in Croatia.
According to testimony given by Babic in his subsequent war crimes trial, during the summer of 1991 the Serbian secret police—under Miloševic's command—set up "a parallel structure of state security and the police of Krajina and units commanded by the state security of Serbia". Shadowy groups of paramilitaries with names such as the "Vukovi sa Vucjaka" ("Wolves from Vucjak") and the "Beli Orlovi" ("White Eagles"), funded by the Serbian secret police, were also a key component of this structure.
A wider-scale war was launched in August 1991. Over the following months, a large area of territory, amounting to a third of Croatia, was controlled by the rebel Serbs. The Croatian population suffered heavily, fleeing or evicted with numerous killings, leading to ethnic cleansing. The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed). Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern Slavonia (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). The Gospic massacre was one of the war crimes committed by Croatian military against the Serbian civilians.
On December 19, 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the Republic of Serbian Krajina. On February 26, 1992, the SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem were added to the RSK, which initially had only encompassed the territories within the SAO Krajina. The Serb Army of Krajina (?????? ?????? ??????? / Srpska Vojska Krajine ; abbreviated ??? / SVK)(or the Republic of Serbian Krajina Army) was officially formed on March 19, 1992. The RSK occupied an area of some 17,028 km˛ at its greatest extent. Croatia then was beginning to form an army and their main defenders, the local police, were overpowered by the JNA military who supported rebelled Croatian Serbs. The RSK was located entirely inland, but they soon started advancing deeper into Croatian territory. They shelled the Croatian coastal town of Zadar killing over 80 people in nearby areas and damaging the Maslenica bridge that connected northern and southern Croatia. They also tried to overtake Šibenik, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by JNA. The main city theatre was also bombed by JNA forces. The city of Vukovar, however, was completely devastated by JNA attacks. The city of Vukovar that warded off JNA attacks for month eventually fell. 2,000 defenders of Vukovar and civilians were killed, 800 went missing and 22,000 were forced into exile. The wounded were taken from Vukovar Hospital to Ovcara near Vukovar where they were executed.
The uneasy peace of 1992
A ceasefire agreement was signed by Presidents Tudman and Miloševic in January 1992, paving the way for the implementation of a United Nations peace plan put forward by Cyrus Vance. Under the Vance Plan, four United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) were established in Croatian territory which was claimed by RSK. The Vance Plan called for the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia and for the return of refugees to their homes in the UNPAs. The JNA officially withdrew from Croatia in May 1992 but much of its weaponry and many of its personnel remained in the Serb-held areas and were turned over to the RSK's security forces. Refugees were not allowed to return to their homes and many of the remaining Croats and other nationalities left in the RSK were expelled or killed in the following months. On February 21, 1992, the creation of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was authorised by the UN Security Council for an initial period of a year, to provide security to the UNPAs.
The agreement effectively froze the front lines for the next three years. Croatia and the RSK had effectively fought each other to a standstill. The Republic of Serbian Krajina was not recognised de jure by any other country or international organisation. Nevertheless it gained support from Serbia's allies, Greece, Russia, and Romania.
With the creation of new Croatian counties on December 30, 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions (kotar) for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina. However, Serbs considered this too late, as it was not the amount of autonomy they wanted, and by now they had declared de facto independence.
UNPROFOR deployed throughout the region in order to maintain the ceasefire, although in practice its light armament and restricted rules of engagement meant that it was little more than an observer force. It proved wholly unable to ensure that refugees returned to the RSK. Indeed, the rebelled Croatian Serbs authorities continued to make efforts to ensure that they could never return, destroying villages and cultural and religious monuments to erase the previous existence of the Croatian inhabitants of the Krajina. Milan Babic later testified that this policy was driven from Belgrade through the Serbian secret police—and ultimately Miloševic—who he claimed were in control of all the administrative institutions and armed forces in the Krajina. This would certainly explain why the Yugoslav National Army took the side of the rebelled Croatian Serbs in spite of its claims to be acting as a "peacekeeping" force. It should be noted that Miloševic has denied this, claiming that Babic had made it up "out of fear".
Geography
The Republic of Serbian Krajina had interesting Geographical features, such as a changing population structure, mountains and rivers.
The decline of the RSK
The partial implementation of the Vance Plan drove a wedge between the governments of the RSK and Serbia, the RSK's principal backer and supplier of fuel, arms and money. Milan Babic strongly opposed the Vance Plan but was overruled by the RSK's assembly. On February 26, 1992, he was deposed and replaced as President of the RSK by Goran Hadžic, a Miloševic loyalist. Babic remained involved in RSK politics but as a considerably weaker figure.
The position of the RSK eroded steadily over the following three years. On the surface, the RSK had all the trappings of a state: an army, a parliament and president, a government with its own ministries and even its own currency and stamps. Its economy was, however, wholly dependent on support from the rump Yugoslavia, which had the effect of importing that country's hyperinflation. The RSK issued its own currency, the Krajina dinar (HRKR), in parallel with the Yugoslav dinar in July 1992. This issue was followed by the "October dinar" (HRKO), first issued on October 1, 1993 and equal to 1,000,000 Reformed Dinar, and the "1994 dinar", first issued on January 1, 1994, and equal to 1,000,000,000 October dinar.
The economic situation in the rebelled areas soon became disastrous. By 1994, only 36,000 of its citizens were employed out of a population of 430,000. The war severed its trade links with the rest of Croatia, with its few industries left idle. It had few natural resources on which to rely and had to import most of its resources, goods and fuel. Its agriculture was devastated, operating at little more than a subsistence level. Professionals went abroad to Serbia or elsewhere to escape the republic's economic hardships. To make matters worse still, the RSK's government was grossly corrupt and the region became a haven for black market and other criminal activity. It was clear by the mid-1990s that the RSK was economically inviable without a peace deal or support from Yugoslavia. This was especially clear in Belgrade where the RSK had become an unwanted economic and political burden for Miloševic. His government sought to push the rebelled Croatian Serbs into settling the conflict but was rebuffed, much to its frustration.
The republic's weakness also affected its armed forces, the Vojska Srpske Krajine (VSK). Since the 1992 ceasefire had been agreed, Croatia had spent large sums of money importing weapons and training its armed forces with the aid of American contractors. At the same time, the VSK had grown steadily weaker, with its soldiers poorly motivated, trained and equipped. The VSK had only about 55,000 soldiers available to cover a front of some 600 km in Croatia plus 100 km along the border with the Bihac pocket in Bosnia; 16,000 of these were stationed in eastern Slavonia, leaving only some 39,000 to defend the main part of the RSK. In reality, only 30,000 of the theoretical 55,000 were capable of being fully mobilised. The VSK had little mobility and faced a far stronger Croatian army. It was also politically divided between supporters of Hadžic and Babic. On occasion, this rivalry broke out into clashes between rival units, which left several people wounded.
An early demonstration of the new Croatian capabilities came in January 1993, when the revitalised Croatian army launched an attack on Serbian positions around Maslenica in southern Croatia (which prevented them from utilizing sea access via Novigradsko more). In a second offensive in September 1993 the Croatian army overran the Medak pocket in the southern Krajina in an attempt to gain back the Serb-held Croatian land. The Croatian action was halted by extreme pressure from international diplomacy, but the Croatian army continued to strengthen. Although the rebelled Croatian Serbs were able to bring up reinforcements fairly quickly, the strength of the Croatian forces proved to be superior. Hadžic sent an urgent request to Belgrade to send reinforcements, arms and equipment. In response, around 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Vojislav Šešelj (the "White Eagles") and the "Arkan" (the "Serb Volunteer Guard") arrived to bolster the VSK. They found that the RSK government and military was in a chaotic state.
Operation Storm
Following the rejection by both sides of the Z-4 plan for reintegration, the RSK's end came in 1995, when Croatian forces gained control of western Slavonia in Operation Flash (May) followed by the biggest part of occupied Croatia in an overrunning way in Operation Storm (August). The RSK was disbanded, and almost the entire Serb population, except for those killed, was forced to flee. Croatia celebrates this ethnic cleansing on August 5 as "Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day".
A number of Croatian army officers (such as general Ante Gotovina) were indicted by the ICTY in the Hague for command responsibility for the atrocities committed by Croatian soldiers against the civilian Serb population.
Around 150,000–200,000 Croatian Serbs fled, most of whom ended up in Serbia, and some went to eastern Slavonia. The bulk of them were evacuated immediately by the RSK authorities, while others fled after the operation due to fear and uncertainty caused by the aftermath of the operation. The widespread fear wasn't unsupported, because a number of Serb civilians were indeed killed by advancing Croatian forces and in several atrocities following the operation - UNPROFOR documented more than two hundred murders by November. There was also widespread arson committed by the Croatians, judged by the ICTY to be an action organised to prevent the Serbs from returning. The end result was that only 4,000 Serb inhabitants remained in the main part of the former RSK (i.e. excluding eastern Slavonia) after the offensive.
Some Serbs and most of the expelled Croats have since returned, but the rebelled Croatian Serb population is still only a fraction of its pre-1995 numbers. The autonomous regions planned by the government in 1992 were disbanded on February 7, 1997 and the areas were integrated into civic counties.
The parts of the former RSK in eastern Croatia (along the Danube) remained in place as the Republic of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Syrmia (previously the Srpska Autonomna Oblast Slavonija, Baranja i zapadni Srem, or sometimes called Sremsko-Baranjska Oblast). The national and local authorities signed the Erdut Agreement in 1995, sponsored by the United Nations, that set up a transitional period during which the UNTAES peacekeepers would oversee a peaceful reintegration of this territory into Croatia. This process was completed in 1998. After the peaceful reintegration Croatian islands of Šarengrad and Vukovar remained under Serbian military control. In 2004, Serbian military was withdrawn from the islands and replaced with Serbian police. Thus, the islands remain an open question.
War crimes
Croats
Several Croatian military leaders were indicted by the ICTY of various war crimes, including persecution, murder, plunder and planning the ethnic cleansing.
- Ante Gotovina is charged with ranking responsibility for the murder of about 150 Serbs and persecution and deportation of thousands.
- Mladen Markac and Ivan Cermak are charged with planning, establishing, implementing and/or participating "in a joint criminal enterprise, the common purpose and objectives of which were the permanent removal of the Serb population from the Krajina region, by force, fear or threat of force, persecution, forced displacement, transfer and deportation, appropriation and destruction of property and other means, which constituted or involved the commission of crimes".
Serbs
Several members of the RSK leadership ended up being indicted of war crimes by the ICTY.
- Milan Babic, president of the RSK, was sentenced to 13 years for persecution on political, racial and religious grounds as a crime against humanity, to which he pleaded guilty. He was found dead in his ICTY prison cell on March 6, 2006, having apparently committed suicide.
- Milan Martic, president of the RSK, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for multiple war crimes, including persecution, torture, deportation, and attacks on civilians.
- Goran Hadžic is still at large.
- Jovica Stanišic, head of Serbia's State Security Service, and Franko Simatovic, a commander of the State Security Service, are indicted on several accounts of persecution as a crime against humanity and murder.
- Momcilo Perišic, Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, is awaiting trial on counts of murder.
Legal status
During the time of its existence (1992-1995), this entity did not achieve international recognition, and according to the Constitution of SFR Yugoslavia (and SR Croatia) of 1974 it did not have any right to self-determination, nor to the secession from SR Croatia. In January 1992 the Badinter commission concluded that Yugoslavia was "in dissolution" and that the republics - including Croatia - should be recognized as independent states when they asked so. They also assigned these republics territorial integrity. For most of the world this was a reason to recognize Croatia. However, Serbia did not accept the conclusions of the commission in that period and recognized Croatia only after Croatian military actions (Oluja and Bljesak) and Dayton agreement.
Government in exile
There exists a self-proclaimed government in exile for the Republic of Serbian Krajina. This government existed for a short time period after Operation Storm, but was reconstituted in 2005. This self-proclaimed government has changed the official name of the Republic of Serbian Krajina to Republic of Serb-Krajina.
See also
Gallery
Sources
Baric, Nikica: Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj 1990.-1995., Golden marketing. Tehnicka knjiga, Zagreb, 2005., ISBN 953-212-249-4
Ratni zlocini srpskih vojnih i paravojnih postrojbi u Lici i sjevernoj Dalmaciji 1991. - 1995.
Mass Killing and Genocide in Croatia 1991./92., Ministarstvo zdravstva RH, 1992.
- Ratni zlocini u BiH, Helsinki Watch, 1992.
- "The Army of Serbian Krajina", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 October 1993
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- "Operation Storm - Attack on the Krajina", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 November 1995
- , ICTY, 8 October 2001
- , 17 November 2003
Podnijet istražni zahtjev protiv više osoba zbog ratnog zlocina protiv civilnog stanovništva i ratnog zlocina protiv ratnih zarobljenika
http://www.vladarsk.com
External links
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- Granic kaže da Haag nema dokumente o agresiji na Hrvatsku?
- (Serbian/English) Krajinaforce
- (English) A/RES/49/43 The situation in the occupied territories of Croatia
- (from a site run by minister of intelligence of so-called RSK)
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