 On a larger scale, the operation also resulted in serious consequences for the UPROFOR and the reputation and legitimacy of UN peacekeeping.The Security Council’s decision to allow the use of force by UNPROFOR forces in self-defence and to collaborate with NATO to order air support resulted in great discrepancies between the military reality of conditions on the ground in Bosnia and traditionally held understandings of the nature and role of UN peacekeeping.As was illustrated in the case of Operation Bøllebank, what resulted as a consequence of such discrepancies was a largely disjointed system in which UNPROFOR forces, while in principle authorised to use force and air support in self-defence, often had their requests denied by a UN leadership weary of allowing UNPROFOR forces to exercise such authorisations for fear of being perceived as a warring party itself.