United Nations Safe Areas

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United Nations Safe Areas (UN Safe Areas) were areas established in 1993 on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War by the resolution of the United Nations Security Council.

The territories (cities) assigned under protection of the UN peacekeeping units UNPROFOR included Sarajevo, Žepa, Srebrenica, Goražde and Bihać. The establishment of the UN Safe Areas is today considered as one of the most controversial decisions of the United Nations as the resolution was unclear about the procedure by which these safe areas were to be protected in a war zone such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result the resolution turned into a difficult diplomatic problem as it did was not aligned with the political willingness of member states that voted for the resolution to actually take required actions to protect designated safe areas.

In 1995 the situation in UN Safe Areas was deteriorating and it led to a diplomatic crisis which culminated in Srebrenica massacre one of the worst atrocities in Europe since the WWII. The UN Resolution 819 and 836 had designated Srebrenica a "safe area" to be protected using "all necessary means, including the use of force". Continued attacks on UN Safe Areas as well as the continued Siege of Sarajevo also ultimately resulted in NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina named Operation Deliberate Force.