yugoslavias implosion

The ypa intervened in Slovenia after Slovenia and Croatia passed
their declarations of sovereignty and independence on the same day,
June 25, 1991. The ypa succeeded in occupying most border crossings
but had its barracks and lines of communication blocked by the Slovenian
Territorial Defense and police. The main fighting took place
on June 27–28. Slovenia’s Territorial Defense succeeded in taking back
control of its border crossings, blocked the advance of the ypa, and
captured about 2,300 federal soldiers. The ypa in turn bombed Ljubljana
airport and some border posts.
By the end of June, the war was over and Slovenia had won. It
owed its victory to a superior strategy (aware of the ypa superiority
in arms, Slovenes adopted a strategy based on asymmetric warfare),
its tactical advantage, and the full support of the Slovene people.
Additionally, Slovenia had drawn up a detailed media management
plan including an international media center established prior to the
conflict.
The Ten-Day War formally ended with the signing of the Brioni
Accord, the terms of which were favorable to Slovenia: a
three-month moratorium on Slovenian independence was agreed,
Slovenian forces were recognized as sovereign on their territory, and
ypa units were to be withdrawn (a process that started soon after and
was completed by October 26, 1991).
The ypa’s leadership had been divided on whether to mount
a large-scale operation against Slovenia or adopt a more cautious
approach. In the event, it seems that the ypa’s leadership, together
with the Serbian leadership, merely went through the motions of
defending Yugoslavia in Slovenia because their real intention was to
withdraw the ypa to Bosnia and prepare for war there and in Croatia.
After all, Slovenia’s Serbian community was not large enough to justify
a legitimate Serbian claim to Slovenian territory.
167
ChApter 2