In November 1994, the Siege of Bihaća battle of the Bosnian Warentered a critical stage as the VRS and the RSK came close to capturing the town. A strategic area since June 1993, Bihać had been one of six United Nations Safe Areas established in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The US administration considered that if Serb forces captured the city, the war would intensify and cause the worst humanitarian disaster of the war to that point. The US, France and the UK were divided about protecting the area. The US called for airstrikes against the VRS, but the French and the British opposed them, citing safety concerns and a desire to maintain the neutrality of French and British troops serving with the UNPROFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In turn, the US was unwilling to commit ground troops. According to David Halberstam, the Europeans recognized that the US was free to propose military confrontation with the Serbs while relying on the European powers to block any such move. French president François Mitterrand discouraged any military intervention, greatly helping the Serb war effort. The French stance reversed after Jacques Chirac became President of France in May 1995; Chirac pressured the British to adopt a more aggressive approach. Denying Bihać to the Serbs was also strategically important to Croatia, and Chief of the Croatian General Staff General Janko Bobetko considered that the fall of Bihać would end Croatia's war effort.