Page 69 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo II

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ActA
led to a situation where NATO - for the first time in their history - joined an operation
that probably would result in actual combat missions.
The following day, i.e. June 16, 1992, the NATO Standing Naval Force Mediter-
ranean (STANAVFORMED) arrived in the Adriatic Sea and began an operation named
3
MARITIME MONITOR. As the name implied, the mission was to monitor the Yugo-
slav coastline and ensure that UN resolutions nos. 713 and 757 were observed. Along-
side Maritime Monitor, a similar operation named SHARP VIGILANCE was launched
by the Western European Union (WEU). At this point in time, France was not part of
the military partnership in NATO and was attempting to make the WEU a European
counterpart to NATO - which is why the WEU ought to be present in the Adriatic Sea
alongside NATO.

The Danish cor-
vette Niels Juel in
the Adriatic Sea
with Operation
Sharp Guard in the
summer of 1995.
The threat against
NATO units during
SHARP GUARD
came from a mix of
older Warsaw Pact
equipment and - to
a lesser extent - more modern Western equipment. The Yugoslav navy had a number
of small surface vessels, coastal submarines, land-based missiles and sea mines, the
Yugoslav air force had a small number of aircraft and the Yugoslav army had placed a
number of artillery batteries near the coast. Add to this the fact that the area was char-
acterized by heavy civilian sea and air traffic, so there was a lot to keep an eye on .
4
The task was to prevent the warring parties from receiving weapons, fuel and other
things needed for the war effort by sea. Only merchant vessels carrying food and/or
medication were allowed to pass. However, the warships participating in MARITIME
MONITOR were only allowed to monitor traffic and not to board suspicious vessels in
order to inspect the cargo to name an example. Following their arrival in the Adriatic
Sea, the merchant ships were queried about their cargo and destination, and subsequently
monitored by the warships to check whether they proceeded to the claimed destination.
On the other hand, the warships did not have the mandate to intervene where a merchant
deviated from the indicated destination, for example Venice, and instead headed for
Dubrovnik or another place. In such cases, all the warships could do was to report it to

3 It was STANAVFORMED’s first operation since its establishment on April 30, 1992.
4 CNS OPORDER 1/93. Operation “Sharp Guard”. NATO Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe Naples, Italy.
1993.