Editing Dayton Agreement (section)

==Negotiation and signature ==
[[File:Balkan Peace Agreement Signing (1995) Clinton Library.webm|thumb|right|300px|Video of the signing of the Dayton Agreement]]
Though basic elements of the Dayton Agreement were proposed in international talks as early as 1992,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090923145619/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976369,00.html Munich All Over Again?], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 31 August 1992</ref> these negotiations were initiated following the [[Peace plans offered before and during the Bosnian War|unsuccessful previous peace efforts and arrangements]], the August 1995 Croatian military [[Operation Storm]] and its aftermath, the government military offensive against the [[Republika Srpska (1992–95)|Republika Srpska]], conducted in parallel with NATO's [[Operation Deliberate Force]]. During September and October 1995, world powers (especially the United States and Russia), gathered in the [[Contact Group]], pressured the leaders of the three sides to attend settlement negotiations; Dayton, Ohio was eventually chosen as the venue.<ref>{{ cite web |author=Ferid Muhic |url=https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2015/12/201512161661175248.html |title=''What was achieved and what to expect?'' |publisher=[[Al_Jazeera_Media_Network#Al_Jazeera_Center_for_Studies | Al Jazeera Studies]] |date=2015-12-16 |access-date=1 May 2024|language=en}}</ref>

Talks began with an outline of key points presented by the US in a team led by National Security Adviser [[Anthony Lake]] in visits to London, Bonn, Paris and other European stops 10 – 14 August 1995.  These included Sochi, to consult Russian Foreign Minister [[Andrei Kozyrev]].  Lake's team handed off to a separate US inter-agency group led by Assistant Secretary of State [[Richard Holbrooke]], who went on to negotiate with Balkan leaders in their capitals.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Latal|first=Srecko|date=1 October 1995|title=U.S. Envoy Presses Ahead With Balkan Shuttle Diplomacy|url=https://apnews.com/article/ab9925485fb1a8a292948474dc179657|access-date=2021-06-14|work=Associated Press}}</ref> The Holbrooke crew conducted five rounds of intense shuttle diplomacy from August to October,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hartwell|first=Leon|date=15 October 2019|title=Conflict Resolution: Lessons from the Dayton Peace Process|journal=Negotiation Journal|volume=35|issue=4|pages=443–469|doi=10.1111/nejo.12300|s2cid=210360406|doi-access=free}}</ref> including short conferences in Geneva and New York that resulted in the parties' adoption of principles for a settlement on 8 and 26 September respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Annex 4  |publisher=[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] |url=https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/e/0/126173.pdf/ |access-date=1 May 2024|language=en}}</ref>

The Dayton conference took place from 1–21 November 1995. The main participants from the region were the President of the [[Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)|Republic of Serbia]] [[Slobodan Milošević]] (whom the Bosnian Serbs had previously empowered to represent their interests), President of Croatia [[Franjo Tuđman]], and President of Bosnia and Herzegovina [[Alija Izetbegović]] with his Foreign Minister [[Muhamed Sacirbey|Muhamed Šaćirbeg]].<ref>{{ cite web |author=Ivo Komšić |url=https://www.spiritofbosnia.org/volume-11-no-1-2016january/the-dayton-agreement/ |title=''The Dayton Agreement.'' Chapter from the author's The Survived Country – Dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina: Who, When, Where (Zagreb: Synopsis, 2013) |publisher=Spirit of Bosnia|volume=11|issue=1|year=2016|access-date=1 May 2024|language=en}}</ref>

The peace conference was led by US Secretary of State [[Warren Christopher]], and negotiator Richard Holbrooke with two co-chairmen in the form of EU Special Representative [[Carl Bildt]] and the First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia [[Igor Ivanov]]. A key participant in the US delegation was General [[Wesley Clark]]. The head of the UK's team was [[Pauline Neville-Jones]], political director of the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]]. The UK military representative was [[David Leakey|Col Arundell David Leakey]]. [[Paul Williams (professor)|Paul Williams]], through the [[Public International Law & Policy Group]] (PILPG) served as legal counsel to the Bosnian Government delegation during the negotiations.

Holbrooke spoke of the "immense difficulty of engaging the Bosnian government in a serious negotiation".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pinfari |first1=Marco |title=Peace Negotiations and Time Deadline Diplomacy in Territorial Disputes |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |page=124}}</ref>

The secure site was chosen in order to remove all the parties from their comfort zone, without which they would have little incentive to negotiate; to reduce their ability to negotiate through the media; and to securely house over 800 staff and attendants. Curbing the participants' ability to negotiate via the media was a particularly important consideration. Holbrooke wanted to prevent posturing through early leaks to the press.
[[File:Signing the Dayton Agreement Milosevic Tudjman Izetbegovic.jpg|thumb|The ceremonial signing of the Agreement in Paris, France.]]
After having been initialed (signed legally) in Dayton, Ohio, on 21 November 1995,<ref name=":1" /> the agreement was signed ceremonially in Paris on 14 December 1995<ref>{{cite web|date=30 March 1996|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/dayton|title=Dayton Accords|publisher=US Department of State|access-date=5 May 2014}}</ref> and witnessed by [[Prime Minister of Spain|Spanish Prime Minister]] [[Felipe González]], [[President of France|French President]] [[Jacques Chirac]], [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Bill Clinton]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|UK Prime Minister]] [[John Major]], [[Chancellor of Germany|German Chancellor]] [[Helmut Kohl]] and [[Prime Minister of Russia|Russian Prime Minister]] [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]].