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you are here: POSI > NAVY > ECMM
ECMM - Observers in white Throughout
the wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, the monitors
were strange figures. They emerged from their white vehicles, dressed
all in white and projecting a clean, even dreamlike quality. It
was as though they were emissaries from outer space who had been
sent to save the human race from itself." (Misha Glenny, The
fall of Yugoslavia, 1992) History The breakup of Yugoslavia formally started on 25th June 1991 when Slovenia and Croatia declared independence. Two days later, the Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija or Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) marched into Slovenia. On 8th July the 'Brioni agreement' came into force, ending hostilities in Slovenia. The agreement was negotiated between the EC Troika (the foreign ministers of the past, present and future presidency) and representatives of the six Yugoslav republics. Part of the agreement called for the European Community to send observers to monitor the cease fire that was part of the Brioni agreement. The European Community Monitor Mission (ECMM) was born. On 15th July, the first group of 20 EC Monitors arrived in Slovenia. On 18th July the JNA decided to withdraw from Slovenia within the next three months. Slovenia had won its independence because politicians and public were united in their demand for freedom but perhaps even more because of Slovenia's excellent public relations. At the same time, Slovenia had a very small minority of Serbs, making it an uninteresting piece of land in the eyes of Milosevic (Serbia's president). Croatia would not be so lucky. With the JNA withdrawing from Slovenia, more and more violence broke out in Croatia. On 29th July the EC foreign ministers meeting in Brussels decided to increase the number of monitors from 50 to 500 and include Croatia in its mission. In September '91, during a conference in The Hague a peace agreement was reached for the Serbian-Croatian war, one of the many that would fail. The agreement foresaw increasing the number of EC observers to 600 or 700 and moving the focus of their activities from Slovenia to Croatia. Cyrus Vance, the UN special envoy to Yugoslavia, managed to negotiate a cease fire in Croatia in the end of '91. As a result of it, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) started deploying. Until then, ECMM had mainly been monitoring cease fire lines. Now the roles changed a bit. UNPROFOR dealt with 4 United Nations Protected Areas (UNPA) in Croatia. ECMM took responsibility for the 'pink zones', the areas that were outside the original Vance maps for Croatia but from which the Serbs refuse to withdraw. In the end of '92 Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania and FYROM requested help from the international community. They had fears that the conflict in former Yugoslavia might 'spill over' their borders. After this request, ECMM staff settled down in these countries, together with other international observers. Also, ECMM started monitoring airfields in Croatia after the no-fly zone over Bosnia-Hercegovina was established. In the end of '92 and the beginning of '93 ECMM moved back into Bosnia-Hercegovina. The escalation of the conflict there, made increased activity necessary. ECMM staff The staff of ECMM is recruited from the 12 EC countries as well as some CSCE countries (Canada, Sweden, Poland Slovak Republic and Czech Republic). They are mainly professional soldiers but also some conscripts and diplomats. The people are send out by their country for a fixed term, usually six months. While taking part in ECMM, they all enjoy diplomatic immunity and carry diplomatic passports. Although incorrectly, the idea seems to prevail that ECMM observers are mainly from the military intelligence services of the different participating countries. This idea made the JNA but also the Croatian army reluctant towards the observers. They did not like the idea of foreign 'spies' running around all over their territory. The head of the mission and the staff surrounding him are supplied by the country that has the presidency of the EC. That means that part of the staff changes every six months with the changes of presidency in the EC. The head of the mission is an ambassador. ECMM staff is unarmed. They operate in completely white uniforms, from the shoes via the bullet proof vests up to the helmets. Their vehicles are also completely white. The only variation in color are the EC symbols, a blue rectangle with 12 golden stars on the sleeves of the uniforms and on the vehicles. In January '92, ECMM suffered its heaviest loss until now: 5 Italian monitors died when their helicopter was shot down over Croatia by a yet of the Yugoslav air force. In May '92 a member of the ECMM was murdered in Mostar in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which led to the temporary withdrawal of the Monitors from Bosnia-Hercegovina. Structure ECMM is operated from the headquarters in Hotel "I" of Zagreb.( Hotel "I" tel: 041- 641222. ECMM Public Affairs tel: 041 - 641668). This headquarters controls seven Regional Centers(RC's): RC Zagreb
Current Work One of the main tasks of the ECMM is, obviously, to collect information about the military situation in the areas where they are active. That means that daily reports are made about the fighting, casualties and wounded, infringements of cease fires, etc. Part of the work is also to try and build confidence between the different warring factions. ECMM Monitors facilitate contacts between the different armies and militias and participate in negotiations. The political situation is also of concern to ECMM. Another part of the responsibilities is the humanitarian work. ECMM cooperates with the humanitarian organizations that are working in the area and puts its contacts, knowledge and experience at the disposal of these organizations. ECMM also provides small scale help directly, for example by delivering letters, trying to locate missing persons, etc. Collecting information on damage to cultural heritage (churches, museums, monuments, etc.) is also part of the humanitarian work. In cooperation with UNPROFOR work is done on evacuation of refugees and wounded from the war zones. ECMM also deals with the human rights situation in former Yugoslavia, reporting about infringements of human rights and trying to contribute to the protection of civilians whenever and wherever possible. Another part of the work is to report about violations of the no fly zone over Bosnia- Hercegovina. In order to do this, ECMM controls a number of airports while others are done by UNPROFOR. The mission also tries looks to the future. They monitor and report the situation of economy, social life and infrastructure and try to develop ideas for reconstruction. In Practice What perhaps sounds easy in theory, is a complicated and dangerous job in practice. The monitors in the field face the dangers of minefields and snipers. The dangers of it all are not just the regular armies of the different republics. The, literally, thousands of private armies constitute the gravest risk. Individual warlords who see themselves as judge, jury and executioner of a village, a street or even a house and are not interested in such niceties as diplomatic status or agreements between governments. They simply shoot at anything or anyone they do not like. To read the reports of ECMM, is an almost sickening experience. We all know about Sarajevo, Mostar and Dubrovnik. But in fact, there are hundreds of little Sarajevo's going on all over former Yugoslavia. The scale of plunder, terrorism, rape and murder is incomprehensible. Media attention tends to focus on areas where the problem is simple: good against bad, huge armies against innocent civilians. Outside of those few places, former Yugoslavia is a boiling pot of hate where all sides are equally guilty of terrorism, murder and destruction. As of May 1997, the ECMM/HQ is transferred to Sarajevo |
