ABSTRACT
This chapter treats three principal themes: a short historical summary of the Yugoslav Crisis, the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) Mission and some historical lessons which explain the Mission's success. It discusses the immense work done by 'Blue Helmets' in Eastern Slavonia. Slovenia and Croatia claimed their independence while the Serb population, minority but certainly present, remained loyal to the federal power. The Croat authorities and the Serb leadership started peace negotiations, which ended with the signature on the 12 November 1995 of the Erdut accord. The basic agreement, brokered and stewarded by American Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith and the United Nations mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg was signed at Erdut on 12 November 1995 by Milan Milanovic, head of the Serb delegation, and by Hrvoje Sarinic, head of the Croat delegation. Based on the Erdut Accord, the UN Security Council on 15 January 1996 unanimously created UNTAES with resolution 1037.
