A NEW PEACE? EASTERN SLAVONIA [Main Title]

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  • Title: A NEW PEACE? EASTERN SLAVONIA [Main Title]
  • Film Number: UNT 821
  • Other titles: SECTOR EAST - A NEW PEACE? [Alternative Title] UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: What do the people on both sides of the frontlines in eastern Slavonia, in Sector East, think of the latest peace deal signed by their politicians? How are the warring sides interpreting the document?
  • Description: Footage of grey, partly destroyed apartment blocks taken from a moving vehicle. Snow covers the ground between the buildings and the UNTV car. This is Vukovar, four years after it was destroyed by extensive shelling by the Yugoslav army. Archive footage from August 1991 showing tanks firing at buildings, soldiers running through ruined buildings, a body lying in a rubble-strewn street. A column of refugees pass between two Yugoslav tanks. They each carry several bags as they crunch through the snow. Voiceover from a news broadcaster (?) explains recent events that have forced these people to leave. Close up shots of weeping, elderly women. Footage of new peace agreement being signed at Erdut by Milan Milanović, Head of Serbian Negotiation Delegation and witnessed by Thorvald Stoltenberg and Peter Galbraith. Hrvoje Sarinic, Head of Croatian Negotiation Delegation signed it later that day in Zagreb’s Presidential Palace. UNTV interviews people on the street to find out their reaction to the Erdut Agreement. A Serb woman living in Vukovar says that she does not think Serbs and Croats could live together ‘after this much blood’. An old man says that he does not think that they will be able to stay under Croatian authority and enjoy life as they do now. A man in khaki uniform says that he does not think they will be able to stay because of the history of Serb suppression under Croatian rule. He accuses the Croatians of being fascists. Shot Milan Milanović shaking hands with Peter Galbraith and Thorvald Stoltenberg. Interview with Peter Galbraith, US Ambassador to Croatia, who says that he understands the fears of both sides after the events of the last four years and though neither side will be entirely happy with the agreement, it represents a compromise. He says ‘it is much better to have a peaceful resolution than a military one’. Shots of a market in Vukovar, the ground covered in snow. People, many dressed in khaki uniform, mill about. Police patrol in front of a bombed out building. Shots of destroyed homes. UNTV voiceover explains that there will be a transition period over the next couple of years during which the UN will monitor the government in Eastern Slavonia. Part of the agreement calls for refugees to return to their houses. Interview with Milan Milanović, Head of Serb Negotiating Team, who says that they will respect the right for Croats to return to their homes but that they will request the same for Serbs who left former Croatia and there are about 500,000 of them. With houses in short supply it seems inevitable that Serbs will be asked to leave houses when Croats return. Shots of Boro, a refugee from Osijek in Croatia, cutting wood. He and his family currently live in a house belonging to a Croat. In an interview he says that ideally he would return to his apartment in Osijek and the Croats living there would return here. Interview with Branimir Glavaš, Governor of Osijek, who says that Serbs are free to choose where they live. Boro, though, says he does not believe the promises of the Croatian government to allow Serbs to return to their homes or receive compensation. The two sides already disagree about the length of time the Transitional Administration needs to be in place. The Croatian side are adamant that it will only be necessary for one year while the Serbian side predict that it will need to be extended to two years, as allowed by the agreement. Peter Galbraith reiterates that the terms of the agreement allow for the extension of the Transitional Administration for an additional year at the request of either party. Demilitarisation must take place within thirty days of the arrival of new international forces. Shots of soldiers milling about the market. This remains a point of contention. Branimir Glavaš, Governor of Osijek, says that if the paramilitary groups are not disarmed within the time limit, then Croatia will pull out of the agreement. Peter Galbraith says that it would be a catastrophe if this agreement fell through and so the demilitarisation must take part within the agreed period of time. Close up of crumbling Vukovar sign, camera pulls out to show a partly destroyed building. Reconciliation between these two sides will be tough but the current agreement represents the best chance for a lasting peace in this disputed region.
  • Alternative Title: SECTOR EAST - A NEW PEACE? [Alternative Title] UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: English (Tape Code A)
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: UNT 821
  • Sound: Bosnian (Tape Code B)
  • Access Conditions:
  • Featured Period: 1990-2000
  • Production Date: 1995-12 1995-12-13
  • Production Country: UN
  • Production Details: Coleman, Karen (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: Croatia & Vukovar (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: English (Tape Code A) Sound format: Bosnian (Tape Code B) Soundtrack language: Croatian (Tape Code C) Title language: Serbian (Tape D)
  • Technical Details: Format: Beta-SP Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Running time: 10 mins 8 secs
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    UNT 821

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    UNT 822 (UNTV PROGRAMME NO 144 [Main Title]) UNT 821 X (A NEW PEACE? EASTERN SLAVONIA (UNEDITED RUSHES) [Allocated Title])
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