The Carrington Plan

The EC security plan, devised by Lord Carrington, was an attempt by the European Community to stop the Yugoslavian civil war in 1991. The plan was that Yugoslavia would be divided into six sovereign republics, recognized in international law and bound into a loose economic association, which would have economic standing and be known as Yugoslavia. The Serb minority in Croatia would be given internationally binding security guarantees and a large degree of autonomy. Sanctions and a UN-backed oil embargo would be imposed on anybody not accepting the plan.

However, Slovenia believed Carrington was trying to recreate Yugoslavia. Slovenia would be the most prosperous of the republics, and wanted none of the plan and was a reluctant signatory as was Croatia. Other objections were that too much was given away to Serbia to get Milosevic to sign up. The Albanians in Kosovo and Hungarians in Voyvodina under the plan remained under Serbian control.

The plan was also unenforceable as the ethnic mix and geography meant that imposition of sanctions on one republic would effect the others.

When the peacekeepers arrived, all sides wanted something different. Protection in some instances, reclaimed territory in others. There was no fixed frontline to identify and control.