| Summary: | Until the Ten-Day War in Slovenia in 1991, Germany was very reserved about Yugoslavia. Until the Yugoslav army attack on Slovenia, German's policy did not differ from that of the entire West; it was focused on the support and preservation of the integrity of Yugoslavia. However, the violence that German politics firmly rejected started a change in her position. First, she supported joint negotiations: together with the members of the European Community and the United States, she was looking for a solution to the crisis. But from autumn 1991 on, it was no longer questionable for Germany whether the two countries would be recognized or not, but to find the right moment to do so. On 27 November, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl announced that Germany would recognize Slovenia and Croatia before Christmas. At that time, Germany began to lobby other EC countries to join her, despite opposition from the United Nations and the USA. At the Foreign Ministers' meeting on 16 December, EC members decided that the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia would enter into force on 15 January 1992. That was Germany's great diplomatic success.
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