Defence Forces Review 2008

Balkan Dilemma
undertake the re-unification of the City of Mostar, the capital of Herzegovina. At the time of
the establishment of EUAM, Mostar was firmly divided between Muslims and Croats, with a
small remaining community of Serbs. Fighting in this area of the city had been very intense,
not only because of the Serb offensive, but also during the conflict that erupted between the
Muslims and the Croats. Effectively, EUAM was charged with the unification of the city
and its various components. This process was in many ways experimental and included the
reconstruction of the war torn city. EUAM was to remain for two years and as it happened
it remained in the form of the EU Office of the Special Envoy (EUOSEM) for a further six
months until the end of 1996 when a number of remaining functions were passed to the United
Nations in the form of the Office of the High Representative (UNOHR) based in Sarajevo. The
experience of EUAM is interesting from a peacekeeping point of view in that it added a new
dimension to peacekeeping. Those deployed by the European Union (many being members
of ECMM) were faced with what appeared to be an impossible task in a city that remained
in the throes of conflict. Much has been written since about this period in an effort to explain
the processes by which EUAM worked. The remit of this team included the establishment
of joint institutions, including a unified police force, the reconstruction of war damaged or
destroyed buildings and the facilitating of free elections (the first free elections in Bosnia and
Herzegovina following the war). For half the period of its existence, EUAM operated against
a background of open conflict and while open conflict ceased following the Dayton/Paris
Peace Accords, EUAM continued to operate against a background of hostility and sporadic
violence between the factions. Agreement on most matters was only achieved painfully and
after protracted negotiation; nonetheless, EUAM managed to rebuild much of the city. It
also managed to set in place a situation within which the former warring factions could deal
with each other and it managed to facilitate the holding of elections. Nobody who was part
of EUAM will claim that we achieved perfect success, but given the background against
which we operated, EUAM can claim quite a lot of success. What distinguishes EUAM in
many ways was its ability to operate in a way whereby it managed to form a rapport with all
sides and to gain the respect of a great many people. People came to realise that members of
EUAM had no negative agendas and of course, from a European point of view its members
proved that cohesion between individuals from various European member States was not just
possible, but in most respects it was also effective. In Southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, this
continued when members of EUAM/OSEM were seconded to UNOHR to allow a reasonably
smooth transition of responsibility from the European Union to OHR.
It was at the point of the transition of responsibility from the EU to the UN over a much larger
geographical area that one was able to view the peace process in a more global manner and
indeed to identify the shortcomings inherent in the process. In short, it became obvious that
there was something of a culture clash between those of us who had been attached to the
European Union of those who were an inherent part of the United Nations. The one thing that
did not change was the good relationship with NATO and if anything this relationship became
stronger. It would not be possible to provide an analysis of all aspects of the peacekeeping
process as it effected a region such as Herzegovina, which remained the principal area of
responsibility (the AOR of OHR South included areas of Bosnia both within the Croat-Muslim
Federation, the Republika Srpska and included cities such as Banja Luka, Tomislavgrad and
Livno). It was at this point that the implications of the Dayton/Paris Accords became more
evident and it is better to examine a number of specific aspects of the process, such as refugee
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