Editing Vukovar (section)

===Vukovar under Serb control and subsequent UNTAES administration===

The battle exhausted the JNA and proved a turning point in the [[Croatian War of Independence]]. A ceasefire was declared a few weeks later. Vukovar served as de facto seat of the [[self-proclaimed]] [[Serbian Autonomous Oblast]] [[SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia]], the entity which joined the separatist  self-declared [[proto-state]] [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]] (RSK) in 1992 as an exclave. [[Vojislav Stanimirović (politician)|Vojislav Stanimirović]] served as a mayor of Vukovar at that time. Croat refugees from the town were located at refugee centers around the country and the community published the ''Vukovarske Novine (Vukovar Newspaper)'' outside of the town.<ref name="Put do Erduta">{{cite journal | title = Put do Erduta-Položaj Hrvatske u međunarodnoj zajednici 1994.-1995. i reintegracija hrvatskog Podunavlja | first = Albert | last = Bing | journal = Scrinia Slavonica | volume = 7 | pages = 371–404 | publisher = Hrvatski institut za povijest | location = Zagreb | year = 2007 | url = http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=42842&lang=en }}</ref>
When the main portion of the RSK was defeated in 1995 [[Operation Storm]] the new agreement was reached for peaceful settlement of the conflict in Vukovar and the rest of Croatian [[Podunavlje]] area known as the [[Erdut Agreement]]. By 1996, Vukovar became demilitarised after local Serb units demobilised and transferred their heavy weapons across the border to Yugoslavia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Croatia at the United Nations, October 21, 1993 – January 16, 1998 |date=1998 |publisher=Permanent Mission of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations}}</ref> The agreement led to the establishment of the [[United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium]] (UNTAES) which effectively governed the region from its seat in Vukovar until 1998 when the region was fully reintegrated into Croatia.
[[File:Croatian War 1991 Vukovar destruction.jpg|right|thumb|Vukovar during the occupation, under the administration of the [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]].]]

UNTAES headquarters were initially located at the [[United Nations Protection Force]] headquarters in [[Zagreb]] but the idea of priority of the administration was to move it to [[eastern Croatia]].<ref name="Global Governance">{{cite journal|title=The Political Challenges of Administering Eastern Slavonia|journal = Global Governance|volume = 10|issue = 1|first= Derek|last= Boothby| publisher= [[Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations]] |pages= 37–51 (15 pages)|date= Jan–Mar 2004| doi=10.1163/19426720-01001005 |jstor = 27800508}}</ref> [[Croatian Government]] offered [[Osijek]] for that purpose but the administration refused it since it wanted to locate it on the territory under its control leading to selection of Vukovar.<ref name="Global Governance" /> [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Madeleine Albright]] visited Vukovar in early 1996 to express her support to the process of reintegration where she was attacked by the Serbian population with eggs and stones at the local market.<ref name="USA-Podunavlje">{{cite journal|url= http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=68736 |title=Sjedinjene Američke Države i reintegracija hrvatskog Podunavlja|journal=Scrinia Slavonica|volume=8|issue=1|first= Albert|last= Bing| publisher= Scrinia Slavonica, Vol.8, Croatian Institute of History|format=PDF |pages= 336–365|date= April 2016|access-date=2016-09-12}}</ref> UNTAES facilitated reintegration by gradual transition and invitation of Croatian officials so that in late 1996 [[President of Croatia]] [[Franjo Tuđman]] visited Vukovar for the first time where he participated in the meeting between Serb and Croat delegation.<ref name="Kosor">{{cite book |first= Jadranka |last= Kosor |author-link= Jadranka Kosor |date=2020 |title=Premijerka : Zapisci one koja nije htjela biti zapisničarka |publisher=Ljevak |isbn=978-953-355-408-2 }}</ref> President Tuđman visited Vukovar again on 8 June 1997, in what was known as the ''Train of Peace''.

As a result of the conflict, a deep ethnic divide exists between the Croat and Serb populations. [[OSCE Mission to Croatia]] was active in Vukovar and surrounding areas until 2007.