Participation of military units of the Republic of Poland in the United Nations Mission in Croatia in 1992–1995 – outline of the problem
Keywords:
UNPROFOR, peacekeeping missions, UN, Yugoslavia, Serbs, Croats, civil war, Poland, Polish army, Polish Military ContingentAbstract
The internal conflict in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began in June 1991, when Slovenia and neighboring Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. The fighting in Slovenia ended after 10 days, while the escalation of the conflict in Croatia continued for the following months. Both the federal authorities and the Serbs living in the Republic of Croatia were against the separatist plans, supported by both the political elites of the Republic and the Croats. European Community efforts to halt hostilities in mid-1991 and resolve the crisis through the Conference on Yugoslavia proved ineffective. The United Nations also took part in peacekeeping activities, whose representatives actively participated in mediation between the parties to the conflict. At the end of 1991, regular fighting took place in Croatia between rebellious Serbian troops (with the support of the federal army) and the armed forces of the newly proclaimed Republic of Croatia. The Security Council decided, with the consent of representatives of the federal authorities and Croatia, to send a mission aimed at restoring peace between the parties to the conflict. The article presents the circumstances of creation and operation of the UNPROFOR PMC, which was placed in 1992 under legal responsibility in the “North” Sector, where, alongside Poles, Nigerians and Danes were stationed. The Polish battalion of UN peacekeeping forces in the former Yugoslavia served from April 1992 to December 1995, and ended its operations under the UNPROFOR mandate in March 1995. Over 3,000 soldiers joined POLBATT. It was the first operational mission of the Polish Army and the first when Poland regained full sovereignty. Polish soldiers, despite their lack of experience and the complicated political situation in the area of responsibility (in Krajina), fulfilled their mandate tasks and achieved satisfactory results during operational activities.
