Chapter 3 - Diplomatic Efforts for the Settlement of the Crisis pages 115 to 146

Summary

Early Attempts to Settle the Crisis

While the constitutional crisis in Kosovo has been worsening since 1988, the international community did not act before the dissolution of the SFRY. However, when armed conflict broke out in Croatia and subsequently in Bosnia and Herzegovina this conflict dominated the international agenda. In June 1991, Slovania and Croatia declared their independence. Fighting broke out in Slovenia and continued in Croatia. The European Union condemned the use of force by the Federation and urged the parties to agree to a peace conference sponsored by the EU. The conference was convened in The Hague on 7 September 1991 under the chairmanship of Lord Carrington with the aim to create a peaceful resolution of the conflict. During the conference a framework for the settlement of the Yugoslav crisis as a whole was drafted. The proposal suggested the forming of autonomous regions or special status areas, applying, “in particular, to the Serbs living in areas in Croatia where they form a majority.” Without mentioning Kosovo and Vojvodina, the draft also proposed that “the republics will apply fully and in good faith established provisions for the benefit of ethnic and national groups, and for autonomous provinces which were given a special constitutional status” (document no. 50 a). Thus, however, it was not clear whether the constitutional changes of 1989/90 were accepted by the international community because they were not mentioned. The second draft of the Carrington plan became more precise in its refutation of the constitutional amendments stressing that "the republics shall apply fully and in good faith the provisions existing prior to 1990 for autonomous provinces" {document no. 50 b).