1997 Eastern Slavonia integrity referendum was held on 6 April in short-lived

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of ...

parallel entity of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia which at the time was already governed by the

United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was a UN peacebuilding transitional administration in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the eastern parts of Croatia ...

(UNTAES) as an UN governed territory. Voters were asked whether they supported the proposal for the region of Eastern Slavonia to remain a single territorial

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom ...

within

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

after the end of UNTAES mandate instead of division into Vukovar-Syrmia and

Osijek-Baranja County Osijek-Baranja County (, hr, Osječko-baranjska županija, hu, Eszék-Baranya megye) is a county in Croatia, located in northeastern Slavonia and Baranja. Its center is Osijek. Other towns include Đakovo, Našice, Valpovo, Belišće, and ...

. Reportedly 99.01% or 99.5% of voters voted for the integrity of the region within Croatia. 77,40 % out of 100.275 registered voters participated in the referendum. The Government of Croatia as well as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

declared the referendum to be illegitimate. Referendum was organized by the parallel Serb bodies in the region ahead of the

1997 Croatian local elections The 1997 Croatian local elections were held on 13 April. This was first local elections in Croatia after the end of war and unification of the territory. In the area of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia the elections were conducted wi ...

with

Spokesperson for the United States Department of State The Spokesperson for the United States Department of State is a U.S. government official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and the U.S. government's foreign policies. The posit ...

R. Nicholas Burns Robert Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is an American diplomat and academic who serves as the United States ambassador to China since 2022. Burns has had a 25 year career in the State Department, and served as United States Under Secret ...

encouraging all citizens of Croatia, Croats and Serbs, to participate in Croatian local elections. Despite the referendum outcome Serbs in the region nonetheless participated in Croatian local elections and a new moderate Serb political party

Independent Democratic Serb Party The Independent Democratic Serb Party ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Самостална демократска српска странка, Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia representing the interes ...

won majority of their votes. From the beginning the referendum initiative was perceived as an internal political struggle between the moderates ''(at the time led by Vojislav Stanimirović)'' and

hawkish In politics, a war hawk, or simply hawk, is someone who favors war or continuing to escalate an existing conflict as opposed to other solutions. War hawks are the opposite of doves. The terms are derived by analogy with the birds of the same nam ...

''(led by

Goran Hadžić Goran Hadžić ( sr-cyrl, Горан Хаџић, ; 7 September 1958 – 12 July 2016) was a war criminal and a nationalist politician of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, in office during the Croatian War of Independence. He was ...

)'' group among the local Serb political leadership. While hawkish proposal gained overwhelming electorate support, contrary to the war years moderates managed to prevail due to international support for the moderate course, and additional change of position towards moderates both by parties which will form the

Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije), commonly referred to as DOS, was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialis ...

and

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

regime. Following the referendum, Vojislav Stanimirović met with the

President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as ...

where he stated his belief that "''the best option would be a Serb county, but if neither Croatia nor the international community is willing to accept it then the formation of the council of Serb municipalities as planned in Erdut Agreement is the second-best option''".

References

{{Serbs of Croatia Referendums in Croatia 1997 in Croatia 1997 referendums History of Slavonia April 1997 events in Europe Serbian nationalism in Croatia

See also

References