Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia | ||||||||||
Self-proclaimed insurgent entity | ||||||||||
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Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (cyan)
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Capital | Vukovar | |||||||||
Government | Interim authority | |||||||||
Speaker of the People's Assembly | ||||||||||
• | 1991–1992 | Ilija Končarević | ||||||||
Historical era | Breakup of Yugoslavia | |||||||||
• | Broke away from Croatia | 25 June 1991 | ||||||||
• | Incorporated into the Republic of Serbian Krajina | 26 February 1992 | ||||||||
Currency | Krajina dinar | |||||||||
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Sources: www.worldstatesmen.org |
The Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (Croatian: Srpska autonomna oblast Istočna Slavonija, Baranja i Zapadni Srijem; Serbian: Српска аутономна област Источна Славонија, Барања и Западни Срем / Srpska autonomna oblast Istočna Slavonija, Baranja i Zapadni Srem) was a self-proclaimed Serbian Autonomous Oblast (SAO) in eastern Croatia, established during the Yugoslav Wars. It was one of three SAOs proclaimed on the territory of Croatia. The oblast included parts of the geographical regions of Slavonia, Baranja and Syrmia.
The entity was formed on June 25, 1991, the same day the Socialist Republic of Croatia decided to withdraw from Yugoslavia, following the Croatian independence referendum, 1991. In the first phase of the Croatian War of Independence, in 1992, the oblast joined the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK).
The SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was declared on June 25, 1991, and on June 26 its first president was declared to be Goran Hadžić. Like the SAO Krajina, it was developed by the Serbian National Council, but was the one representing Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia.
Initially, it was a separate Serb autonomous region (oblast), but it subsequently joined the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) in February 1992. Its borders were established by the end of 1991 as entrenched front lines of the first phase of the Croatian War of Independence. Up to August 1995, Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was de facto part of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, while de jure still part of Croatia, per United Nations Security Council Resolution 753. The region did not have its own local/regional administration within the RSK.