Peace plans proposed before and during the Bosnian War

Four major internationalpeace plans were proposed before and during the Bosnian WarbyEuropean Community(EC) andUnited Nations(UN) diplomats before the conflict was settled by theDayton Agreementin 1995.

Background

Main article:Bosnian War

The Bosnian war which lasted from 1992 to 1995 was fought among its three main ethnicitiesBosniaks,CroatsandSerbs.Whilst the Bosniak plurality had sought anation stateacross all ethnic lines, the Croats had created an autonomous community that functioned independently of central Bosnian rule, and the Serbs declared independence for the region's eastern and northern regions relevant to the Serb population. All peace plans were proposed with the view to observing Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign state entire of its territorial integrity(as it had been in Yugoslavia as theSR Bosnia and Herzegovina) and without an imbalance of greater devolution and autonomy awarded to any community or region.

Carrington–Cutileiro plan

The Carrington-Cutilero Peace Plan (green: Bosniak cantons, red: Serb cantons, blue: Croat cantons)

The original Carrington–Cutileiro peace plan, named for its authorsLord CarringtonandPortugueseambassadorJosé Cutileiro,resulted from the EC Peace Conference held in February 1992 in an attempt to prevent Bosnia-Herzegovina sliding into war. It was also referred to as the Lisbon Agreement (Serbo-Croatian:Lisabonski sporazum). It proposed ethnicpower-sharingon all administrative levels and thedevolutionof central government to local ethnic communities. However, all Bosnia-Herzegovina's districts would be classified asBosniak,SerborCroatunder the plan, even where no ethnic majority was evident. In later negotiations, there were compromises about changing district borders.On 3 March 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina was declared independent following a referendum held days earlier on February 29 and 1 March.

On 11 March 1992, the Assembly of the Serb People of Republika Srpska (the self-proclaimed parliament of theBosnian Serbs) unanimously rejected the original peace plan,putting forth their own map which claimed almost two thirds of Bosnia's territory, with a series of ethnically split cities and isolated enclaves and leaving the Croats and Bosniaks with a disjointed strip of land in the centre of the republic. That plan was rejected by Cutileiro. However, he put forth a revised draft of the original which stated that the three constituent units would be "based on national principles and taking into account economic, geographic, and other criteria."

On 18 March 1992, all three sides signed the agreement;Alija Izetbegovićfor theBosniaks,Radovan Karadžićfor the Bosnian Serbs andMate Bobanfor the Bosnian Croats. On 28 March 1992, after a meeting with US ambassador to YugoslaviaWarren Zimmermannin Sarajevo, Izetbegović withdrew his signature and declared his opposition to any division of Bosnia. What was said and by whom remains unclear. Zimmermann denied that he told Izetbegović that if he withdrew his signature, the United States would grant recognition to Bosnia as an independent state. What is indisputable is that on the same day, Izetbegović withdrew his signature and renounced the agreement.

Vance–Owen Peace Plan

"Vance–Owen plan" redirects here. It is not to be confused with theVance plan.

First version of the Vance-Owen plan, which would have established 10 provinces

Bosniakprovince

Croatprovince

Serbprovince

Sarajevodistrict

Dayton Agreementborder

In early January 1993, the UN Special EnvoyCyrus Vanceand EC representativeLord Owenbegan negotiating a peace proposal with the leaders of Bosnia's warring factions. The proposal, which became known as the "Vance-Owen peace plan", involved the division of Bosnia into ten semi-autonomous regions and received the backing of the UN.The President of theRepublika Srpska,Radovan Karadžić,signed the plan on 30 April. However, it was rejected by theNational Assembly of Republika Srpskaon 6 May,and subsequently referred to a referendum.The plan was rejected by 96% of voters,although mediators referred to the referendum as a "sham".On 18 June, Lord Owen declared that the plan was "dead".

Given the pace at which territorial division, fragmentation andethnic cleansinghad occurred, the plan was already obsolete by the time it was announced. It became the last proposal that sought to salvage a mixed, united Bosnia-Herzegovina; subsequent proposals either re-enforced or contained elements ofpartition of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 1 April, Cyrus Vance announced his resignation as Special Envoy to the UN Secretary-General. He was replaced by Norwegian Foreign MinisterThorvald Stoltenbergon 1 May.

The Vance–Owen plan was a roughly sketched map, it did not establish the definitive outline of the 10 cantons and depended on final negotiations between the three ethnic groups taking place.

Owen–Stoltenberg plan

Owen–Stoltenberg plan.

In late July, representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina's three warring factions entered into a new round of negotiations. On 20 August, the U.N. mediatorsThorvald StoltenbergandDavid Owenunveiled a map that would partition Bosnia into a union of three ethnic republics,in which Bosnian Serb forces would be given 53 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina's territory, Muslims would be allotted 30 percent and Bosnian-Herzegovina Croats would receive 17 percent. On 28 August, in accordance with the Owen–Stoltenberg peace proposal, the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was proclaimed inGrudeas a "republic of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina".On 29 August 1993 the Bosniak side rejected the plan.

Contact Group plan

Between February and October 1994, theContact Group(U.S., Russia, France, Britain, and Germany) made steady progress towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This was known as a Contact Group plan, and a heavy pressure was put on Bosnian Serbs to accept the plan whenFederal Republic of Yugoslaviaimposed an embargo on Drina river. It was also rejected ina referendumheld on 28 August 1994.

During this period, the warring between Croats and Bosniaks came to an end as in March 1994, the two factions settled their differences in theWashington agreementsigned inWashington, D.C.,andVienna.

Other plans by Bosnian actors

There were also Bosniak, Croat and Serb proposals for the reorganisation of Bosnia.

• As ethnic tensions grew, one of the first Muslim proposals was announced on 25 June 1991. It called for the establishment of three entities (Muslim, Serb and Croat), each composed of two or three non-contiguous territories.
• Another joint proposal by the BosniakParty of Democratic Action(SDA) and theCroatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina(HDZ BiH) political parties was announced in August 1992. It called for establishing 12cantonsof Bosnia and Herzegovina, with autonomous rights.

• 
  Map of the first Bosniak proposal on federalisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 25 June 1991.
• 
  BosniakSDAand CroatHDZ BiHjoint proposal of 12 cantons, from August 1992.

See also

• Partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Inter-Entity Boundary Line
• Dayton Peace Accords
• Croat entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sources

• Atiyas, N.B., 1995. Mediating regional conflicts and negotiating flexibility: Peace efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 542(1), pp. 185–201.
• Central Intelligence Agency,Office of Russian and European Analysis (2002).Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict, 1990–1995, Volume 1.Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency.ISBN978-0-16-066472-4.
• Goodby, J.E., 1996. When war won out: Bosnian peace plans before Dayton. International Negotiation, 1(3), pp. 501–523.
• Klemenčić, Mladen; Pratt, Martin; Schofield, Clive H. (1994).Territorial Proposals for the Settlement of the War in Bosnia-Hercegovina.IBRU.ISBN9781897643150.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-03-17.Retrieved2016-09-27.
• Leigh-Phippard, H., 1998. The Contact Group on (and in) Bosnia: an exercise in conflict mediation?. International Journal, 53(2), pp. 306–324.
• Marijan, Davor (2004)."Expert Opinion: On the War Connections of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991 – 1995)".Journal of Contemporary History.36.Zagreb, Croatia: Croatian Institute of History: 249–289.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-01-02.Retrieved2016-03-09.
• Myers, Linnet (6 May 1993)."Bosnian Serbs Spurn Un Pact, Set Referendum".Chicago Tribune.Archivedfrom the original on 30 June 2015.Retrieved28 February2016.
• Tanner, Marcus (2001).Croatia: A Nation Forged in War.New Haven: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-09125-0.