20 years since Dayton: Izetbegović, Tuđman and Milošević agreed on peace

It has been 20 years since the Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH was signed in the American city of Dayton, after 20 days of negotiations.

The signatory on behalf of BiH was Alija Izetbegović, Franjo Tuđman on behalf of Croatia, and Slobodan Milošević on behalf of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The main goal was to stop the war and bloodshed. The agreement was officially verified on December 14 in Paris.

One of the most fundamental principles on which the Dayton Agreement was based was the division of BiH according to the 51 percent territory for the Federation of BiH and 49 percent for Republika Srpska, and the Brčko District, as agreed by the contact group.

The Dayton Agreement gave the greatest powers to the entities and indicated the basic powers for the level of joint state bodies.

The signatories undertook to regulate their mutual relations in accordance with the UN Charter, the Final Act of Helsinki, and other OSCE documents, as well as to mutual respect for sovereignty and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

The agreement, also known as the Paris-Dayton Peace Agreement, has a total of 11 annexes, covering military, political, and civil aspects of the peace deal, as well as regional stabilization. Annex Four of that agreement is still the Constitution of BiH today.

The Dayton Agreement was reached at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, in the American state of Ohio.