Brioni Agreement The Brioni Agreement or Brioni Declaration ( , ) is a document signed by representatives of the Slovenia , Croatia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the political sponsorship of the European Community ( EC ) on the Brijuni Islands on 7 July 1991 . The agreement was aimed at creating an environment in which further negotiations could be made on future of Yugoslavia . However , it isolated the federal prime minister Ante Marković in his efforts to preserve Yugoslavia , effectively removed any form of federal influence over Slovenia , allowed the Yugoslav People ' s Army ( JNA ) to focus on combat in Croatia , fulfilled a Serbian goal of removing Slovenia from Yugoslavia creating a precedent of redrawing international borders and staked the EC ' s interest in resolving the Yugoslav crisis . The agreement facilitated cessation of hostilities between the JNA and Slovene forces in the Ten - Day War . Slovenia and Croatia agreed to suspend activities stemming from their declarations of independence , made on 25 June , for a period of three months . The document also resolved border control and customs inspection issues regarding borders of Slovenia , resolved air - traffic control responsibility and mandated an exchange of prisoners of war . The Brioni Agreement also formed the basis for an observer mission to monitor implementation of the agreement in Slovenia . Eleven days after the agreement was made , the federal government pulled out the JNA out of Slovenia completely . Conversely , the agreement made no mitigating impact on fighting in the Croatian War of Independence . Background . On 23 June 1991 , as Slovenia and Croatia prepared to declare their independence during the breakup of Yugoslavia , the European Community ( EC ) foreign ministers decided the EC member states will not extend diplomatic recognition of the two states . The EC viewed the declarations as unilateral moves and offered assistance in negotiations regarding the future of the SFR Yugoslavia instead . At the same time , the EC decided to suspend direct talks with Slovenia and Croatia . The move was welcomed by the Yugoslav federal government . Slovenia and Croatia declared independence on 25 June , and the Yugoslav People ' s Army ( JNA ) units began to deploy from its bases in Slovenia the next day . On 27 June , the JNA and the Territorial Defence of Slovenia ( TDS ) started armed combat over control of Slovenia ' s border posts , in what became the Ten - Day War . A three - strong EC delegation made three visits to the region in late June and early July to negotiate a political agreement which would facilitate further negotiations . The delegation consisted of foreign ministers of current , preceding and following EC presidencies . The delegation members were Jacques Poos ( Luxembourg ) , Gianni de Michelis ( Italy ) , and Hans van den Broek ( Netherlands ) . Prior to the delegation ' s departure to Belgrade , Poos told reporters that the EC would take charge of the crisis . There , the delegation was met by Serbian president Slobodan Milošević who dismissed a prospect of Croatia leaving the Yugoslav federation because its population contained 600 , 000 Serbs . On 29 June , Croatia and Slovenia agreed to suspend their declarations of independence to allow time for a negotiated settlement . The EC delegation appeared to make progress when Serbia responded to the move — no longer blocking appointment of Croatian member of the federal presidency , Stjepan Mesić , as the body ' s chairman on 30 June . The appearance of a success was reinforced by JNA ' s order to its troops posted in Slovenia to return to their barracks . On 1 July , de Michelis was replaced by João de Deus Pinheiro , Portuguese foreign minister , to maintain the formula of current , preceding and the following EC presidencies comprising the EC delegation as The Netherlands took over the presidency of the EC from Luxembourg , while Portugal was scheduled to assume the presidency after the Dutch . Conference at Brijuni . A further result of the EC delegation ' s mission were talks attended by representatives of the EC , Croatia , Slovenia , Serbia and the Yugoslav government . The talks were held at Brijuni Islands on 7 July . Besides the EC delegation , headed by van den Broek , there were five out of eight members of the federal presidency at the talks — Mesić , Bogić Bogićević , Janez Drnovšek , Branko Kostić and Vasil Tupurkovski . Furthermore , the conference was attended by federal prime minister Ante Marković , federal foreign minister Budimir Lončar , interior minister Petar Gračanin and deputy defence minister Vice Admiral Stane Brovet . Croatia was represented by President Franjo Tuđman and Slovenia was represented by President Milan Kučan . Serbia was represented by Borisav Jović , former Serbian member of the federal presidency ( resigned from the position on 15 June ) , instead of Milošević who refused to attend . Starting at 8 am , the EC delegation held separate talks with Kučan and his assistants , then with Tuđman and his assistants , and finally with Jović . In the afternoon , a plenary meeting was held with the federal , Slovene and Croatian delegations in attendance , while Jović left reportedly dissatisfied with the talks . The agreement was prepared at the EC council of ministers in The Hague on 5 July . It consisted of a Joint Declaration and two annexes — on creation of an environment suitable to further political negotiations and on guidelines for an observer mission to Yugoslavia . The agreement , which became known as the Brioni Declaration or the Brioni Agreement , required the JNA and the TDS to return to their bases , Slovene officials were to control borders of Slovenia alone and both Slovenia and Croatia were to suspend all activities stemming from their declarations of independence for three months . The observer mission set out by the Brioni Agreement materialised as the European Community Monitor Mission ( ECMM ) tasked with monitoring of disengagement of the JNA and the TDS in Slovenia , and ultimately withdrawal of the JNA from Slovenia . Aftermath . Even though little was agreed and the agreement was later interpreted differently by its signatories , the Brioni Agreement established EC ' s interest in the region and the first EC Ministerial Conference on Yugoslavia was held in The Hague on 10 July . The ECMM helped calm several instances of standoffs around military barracks in Slovenia and facilitated negotiations between Slovene authorities and the JNA regarding withdrawal of the JNA from Slovenia . In Croatia , armed combat continued and the JNA shelled the city of Osijek the same evening the agreement was signed . The federal presidency ordered complete withdrawal of the JNA from Slovenia on 18 July in response to Slovene actions in breach of the Brioni Agreement . The ECMM scope of work was expanded to include Croatia on 1 September . By mid - September , the war escalated as the Croatian National Guard and police blockaded the JNA barracks and the JNA embarked on a campaign against Croatian forces . The Brioni Agreement isolated Marković who tried to preserve the federation , but was ignored by van den Broek who appeared not to comprehend issues presented before him and the EC delegation tacitly encouraged dissolution of Yugoslavia . The agreement diminished authority of a part of JNA leadership who fought for preservation of Yugoslav federation . The agreement was also unfavourable for Croatia because it left it to defend against the JNA and Serb forces . By effectively removing Slovenia from influence of the federal authorities , especially the JNA , the agreement fulfilled a Serbian nationalists ' goal , allowing redrawing of international borders . Sabrina Ramet noted that Kučan and Milošević reached an agreement in January 1991 in which Milošević gave his assurances that Slovenia ' s independence bid would not be opposed by Serbia . In return , Kučan expressed his understanding for Milošević ' s interest to create a Greater Serbia . At the time , the EC viewed the agreement as a method of defusing the crisis and failed to attribute the lull which coincided with the Brioni Agreement to a shift in Serbian strategy instead . EC delegation ' s failure to respond to Jović ' s departure before the plenary meeting and EC foreign ministers ' declaration of 10 July indicating the EC may withdraw from mediation if the Brioni Agreement is not implemented only encouraged Serbia which , unlike Yugoslav federation , Slovenia or Croatia , had nothing to lose if the EC pulled out . In the end , the EC took credit for a rapid resolution of the armed conflict in Slovenia without realising that its diplomatic efforts had little to do with the situation on the ground .