Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia
On 20 November 1991 Lord Carrington asked: "Can the internal boundaries between Croatia and Serbia and between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia be regarded as frontiers in terms of public international law?" Applying the principle of "uti possidetis juris", the commission concluded on 11 January 1992, "The boundaries between Croatia and Serbia, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, and possibly other adjacent independent states may not be altered except by agreement freely arrived at... Except where otherwise agreed, the former boundaries become frontiers protected by international law".
Paulin Dvor massacre
In 1990, following the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia by the pro-independence Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), relations between ethnic Croats and Croatian Serbs deteriorated. In August 1990, an insurrection took place in Croatia centred in predominantly Serb-populated areas of the country. These Serb-inhabited areas were subsequently named SAO Krajina. After the Krajina declared its intention to integrate with Serbia, the Government of Croatia declared it to be a rebellion. This conflict escalated into the Croatian War of Independence by March 1991. In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated. A three-month moratorium followed, after which the decision came into effect on 8 October.