page_title: Joint Council of Municipalities
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Joint Council of Municipalities / History / Background
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Thorvald Stoltenberg (* 8. Juli 1931) ist ein norwegischer Jurist, Diplomat und Politiker der sozialdemokratischen Arbeiterpartei. English: Thorvald Stoltenberg (born July 8, 1931) is a prominent Norwegian politician. He served as Minister of Defense (1979-81) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1987-1989 and 1990-1993) in two Labour governments. Norsk bokmål: Thorvald Stoltenberg (født 8. juli 1931) er norsk diplomat og politiker (Ap).
context_page_description: The Joint Council of Municipalities in Croatia is an elected consultative sui generis body which constitutes a form of cultural self-government of Serbs in the eastern Croatian borderland Danube region. The body was established in the initial aftermath of the Croatian War of Independence as a part of the international community' efforts to peacefully settle the conflict in self-proclaimed Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Syrmia. Establishment of the ZVO was one of explicit provisions of the Erdut Agreement which called upon the United Nations to establish its UNTAES transitional mission.
  The Joint Council of Municipalities is not an autonomous administrative unit but a form of cultural autonomy in conformity with relevant Croatian law including provisions on local government cooperation. The body and some of its partners are actively pushing for formal legal recognition of ZVO legal personality within the Constructional Act on the Rights of National Minorities with limited success. The aim of the proposed change is to transform its current standing of a free association into more transparently institutionalized one.
context_section_description: During the Croatian War of Independence, a self-proclaimed Serb Autonomous Region SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (Eastern Slavonia) was formed in along the Danube river in eastern Croatia. SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was ethnically cleansed of its non-Serb population and it became part of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. Within the Republic of Serbian Krajina, Eastern Slavonia was geographically separated from the rest of the entity, preserved certain institutional specificity, and contrary to the rest of Krajina which aligned itself with Republika Srpska, Eastern Slavonia closely aligned its policy with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Several Serb military and political officials, including Milošević, were later indicted and in some cases jailed for war crimes committed during and after the conflict in Eastern Slavonia.
  In the summer of 1995, the Croatian Army took control of the Republic of Serbian Krajina in operations Flash and Storm. The only area of Croatia that remained under Serb control was Eastern Slavonia. Contrary to Krajina, international community under the United States leadership opposed military solution in Eastern Slavonia and insisted on reintegration on the basis of preservation of multi-ethnic character of the region. Opposition to military solution was fueled by need not to undermine peace efforts in Bosnia and by humanitarian consequences of previous two operations. Contrary to Krajina it was expected that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would get involved in the conflict in Eastern Croatia potentially leading to further escalation.
  After Croatian expression of readiness to intervene militarily, international community efforts and agreement of government in Belgrade local Serb leaders concluded that an agreement is necessity if they do not want to face the same fate as those in the western parts of the Krajina. Meanwhile, Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman reached a consensus via the Dayton Agreement and on 12 November, the Erdut Agreement ended the war in eastern Croatia. Transitional period was initiated in which the region was reintegrated and directly governed by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium. It was one of the rare cases in which UN created an protectorate and directly governed the region in question. As an ultimate arbiter in 1997 the UNTAES established predominantly Serb municipalities in the region.
  The Erdut agreement guaranteed the Serbs "the highest level of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms". The Serb community was given the right to "appoint a joint Council of Municipalities" on the basis of which the body was formed. The Council was established in 1997 The Council is one of the founding members of the Serb National Council.
caption: Thorvald Stoltenberg witness of UN on signing of Erdut Agreement
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