Three separate operations created on 31 March: Croatian stand a factor in decision.

• Position: Yugoslav Crisis

Three separate but interlocked peace-keeping operations--for Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia--with mandates extending until 30 November 1995 were set up by the Security Council on 31 March to replace the three-year-old UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia. In unanimously adopting resolutions 981 (1995) 982 (1995) and 983 (1995), the Council respectively established the United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO), extended the mandate of UNPROFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and decided that UNPROFOR within the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) should now "be known as the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP)".

The peace-keeping units--each having its own civilian Chief of Mission and military commander--were to assume almost all of the former UNPROFOR functions, with substantial alteration of the mandate in Croatia, where UNCRO, according to the Secretary-General (S/1995/222), would be "significantly smaller than the present UNPROFOR strength". The overall command and control, however, would still be exercised by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and a Theatre Force Commander, headquartered in Zagreb.

Originally established in Croatia by Council resolution 743 of 21 February 1992, UNPROFOR had become increasingly involved in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the situation there worsened. The Force presence in the FYROM was authorized under Council resolution 795 of 11 December 1992, to prevent "possible developments which could undermine confidence and stability" in that country.

Nearly 40,000 peace keepers

As of 20 March, the UNPROFOR military component totalled 38,599 personnel, including 684 UN military advisers, from 39 countries. In the civil affairs component, there were 803 civilian police and 2,017 other international personnel, in addition to 2,615 local staff.

On 1 March, Lieutenant-General Bernard Janvier succeeded Lt.-Gen. Bertrand Guillaume de Sauville de la Presle as UNPROFOR Force Commander, and on 24 January, Lt.-Gen. Rupert Smith had replaced Lt.-Gen. Sir Michael Rose as UNPROFOR Force Commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

From 3 January through 31 March, some 840 violations of the ban on military flights, imposed under Council resolution 816 (1993), were reported--71 more than in the previous three months, bringing to 4,274 the total number of apparent violations since monitoring began in November 1992 under resolution 781.

In January, February and March, the Council met either formally or for consultations on six occasions to consider the situation in the former Yugoslavia, adopting four resolutions and issuing four statements.

Resolution 981: UNCRO created

In setting up UNCRO, the Security Council on 31 March, by resolution 981 (1995), recognized/hat major provisions of the UN peace-keeping plan for Croatia--particularly those relating to the demilitarization of the areas controlled by the local Serbs, the return of all refugees and displaced persons, and the establishment of local police forces--remained to be implemented.

The Council decided that UNCRO would, among other things, support and facilitate the implementation of the 29 March 1994 cease-fire agreement and the 2 December 1994 economic agreement between the Government of Croatia and the local Serb authorities, and of all relevant Council resolutions.

The new operation would also: assist in controlling, by monitoring and reporting, the crossing of military personnel, equipment, supplies and weapons, over Croatia's borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)--FRY: facilitate delivery of international humanitarian assistance to Bosnia through the territory of Croatia; and monitor the demilitarization of the Prevlaka peninsula on the Adriatic coast.

The Council also decided that UNCRO would be an "interim arrangement to create the conditions that will facilitate a negotiated settlement" consistent with Croatia's territorial integrity and guaranteeing the "security and rights of all communities living in a particular area of the Republic of Croatia, irrespective of whether they constitute in this area a majority or minority".

As the Council demanded that all parties and others concerned...