2. Clash in Pakrac

In the town of Pakrac in Croatia, local policemen of Serbian origin took control over the police station and other governmental buildings on March 1. The next day, special units of Croatian police regained the control over the city. Fire was exchanged, wounds inflicted, with no fatalities. On the decision of the Yugoslav Presidency, the troops of the Yugoslav People’s Army were deployed to the city to separate the belligerents.

Croatian and Serbian media portrayed these events in completely opposite terms, as the fog of war descended upon Pakrac. A Presidency session convened urgently in Belgrade to discuss the security situation, and it was sparkling with mutual accusations.