Ubojstva hrvatskih policajaca 2. svibnja 1991. – najava velikosrpske agresije na Hrvatsku
The Murders of Croatian Policemen on 2 May 1991 – Heralding the Greater Serbian Aggression on Croatia

Summary/Abstract: 2 May 1991 holds a special place among the dates in the chronology of the Croatian War of Independence. It cannot be ignored because it is the date of an event that significantly influenced the further flow of events in Croatia. On that day, in Borovo selo near Vukovar in Slavonia and in Polača near Zadar in Dalmatia, 13 Croatian policemen were killed in an ambush, which significantly worsened the already complex security and political situation in Croatia. In order to understand the circumstances (historical context) of the mentioned murders, this work will briefly refer to the causes of the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the beginning of the democratisation process in Croatia after the multiparty elections in April and May 1990, show some of the reactions of Serb extremists to the mentioned process that preceded the 2 May 1991 murders, and the reactions of the Croatian authorities and the Presidency of Yugoslavia, i.e. the leadership of Serbia and the Yugoslav People’s Army, to the mentioned event. Namely, after the mentioned bloodshed, the Yugoslav Presidency reached the decision on its session of 7 to 9 May 1991 to legally allow, actually legalise, the use of the Yugoslav People’s Army in Croatia, officially to prevent further conflict. The mentioned murders, which should also be observed in the context of rebel Serb attempts in Croatia to provoke a reaction of the Yugoslav People’s Army and introduce a state of emergency, pushed Croatia into a period where there was neither war nor peace. Actually, 2 May 1991 signalled that the chances for the peaceful resolution of Croatian-Serbian disputes in Croatia were getting smaller.

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