Use of the air arm over Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo

Duration
12 April 1993 - 20 December 1995
Military personnel
1.803
Fatalities
none
Decorations
none

Since it was founded in 1945, the multicultural state of Yugoslavia consisted in administrative terms of 6 constituent republics which, following a constitutional change in 1974, were largely independent. The oil crisis and the accompanying economic malaise, together with the upsurge of Serb nationalism, produced a fatal mixture in the course of the 1980s, which was to herald the end of the federation.

Serbian identity

The Serbs were in favour of upholding a powerful unified Yugoslav state to guarantee that they would retain their political power and cultural identity. The Serbs also feared for the rights of their fellow Serbs in the other republics. The Serb president, Slobodan Milosevic, fanned the flames of the nationalistic fire by calling for a Greater Serbia and appointing himself as the protector of all Serbs in Yugoslavia.

Independence

On 25 June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence, with the Bosnian Croats and Muslims following suit on 3 March 1992. The Yugoslav army (JNA) intervened almost immediately and the war in Bosnia began on 2 April 1992. In September 1991, the Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the whole of Yugoslavia, followed in May 1992 by a trade embargo against Serbia and Montenegro.

Flight ban

On 9 October 1992, the Security Council imposed a ban on all military flights over Bosnia in an attempt to contain the war and facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid. The ECMM and UNPROFOR observers who were monitoring the flight ban in Operation Sky Monitor could see, however, that it was being constantly violated by the local parties.

The Security Council then stated on 31 March 1993 that member states were authorised to use necessary force to enforce a total flight ban over Bosnia. NATO was willing to take on the enforcement of the flight ban on 12 April 1993 in Operation Deny Flight.