Vance plan

The Vance plan (Croatian: Vanceov plan, Serbian: Vensov plan) was a peace plan negotiated by the former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. At that time, Vance was the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; he was assisted by United States diplomat Herbert Okun during the negotiations. The plan was designed to implement a ceasefire, demilitarize parts of Croatia that were under the control of Croatian Serbs and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), allow the return of refugees, and create favourable conditions for negotiations on a permanent political settlement of the conflict resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia. The Vance plan consisted of two agreements. The first agreement, known as the Geneva Accord, was signed by Yugoslav defence minister General Veljko Kadijević, President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević and Croatian President Franjo Tuđman in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23 November 1991. Because the ceasefire agreed at that time did not hold, further negotiations resulted in the Implementation Agreement of 2 January 1992. The Implementation Agreement, signed in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by JNA Lieutenant Colonel General Andrija Rašeta and Croatian defence minister Gojko Šušak, produced a longer-lasting ceasefire, which was supervised by the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). The parties failed to completely implement the remaining major aspects of the Vance plan.