Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Canadian Treaty Series

Exchange of Notes (August 12 and December 1, 1938) regarding certain provisions of the Treaty of Neuilly (1919) and the Convention of Lausanne regarding the Frontiers of Thrace (1923) between Canada and Bulgaria [1938] CATSer 6 (1 December 1938)

E104765 - CTS 1938 No. 25

EXCHANGE OF NOTES REGARDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OF NEUILLY (1919) AND THE CONVENTION OF LAUSANNE REGARDING THE FRONTIERS OF THRACE (1923) BETWEEN CANADA AND BULGARIA

I

The President of the Council and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria to the British Chargé d’Affaires at Sofia

(Translation)

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SOFIA, August 12, 1938

Monsieur le Chargé d'Affaires,

I have the honour to ask you to be so good as to bring to the knowledge of the Government of the United Kingdom, signatory of the Treaty of Neuilly and of the Convention regarding the Frontiers of Thrace, signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923, that Bulgaria of the one part and Greece, Roumania, Turkey and Yugoslavia, as States members of the Balkan Entente, of the other part, have concluded and signed at Salonica on the 31st July last an Agreement to dispense, so far as these States are concerned, with the carrying out of the provisions contained in Part IV (Military, Naval and Air Clauses) of the Treaty of Neuilly, as well as the provisions contained in the Convention regarding the Frontiers of Thrace, signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923.

The Salonica Agreement, of which a certified copy is attached, is the recognition by the States members of the Balkan Entente that Bulgaria has equal rights in the matter of armament. It indicates the confidence which exists in the relations between the Balkan States, and is a confirmation of their desire and willingness to collaborate in the consolidation of the peace of the Balkans.

In expressing its thanks to the Government of His Majesty for its benevolent interest, witnessed by the realization of this Agreement, which is a contribution to its efforts for the maintenance of peace, the Royal Government of Bulgaria ventures to hope that His Majesty’s Government will agree to dispense, so far as it is concerned, with the carrying out of the said provisions contained in the Treaty of Neuilly and in the Convention concerning the Frontiers of Thrace, signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923.

I shall be much obliged if your Government will be so good as to make the necessary communications to His Majesty’s Governments in Canada and New Zealand, as well as the Governments of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Union of South Africa and India, as signatories of the Treaty of Neuilly.

I have, etc.,

Georges Kiosséivanoff

(Translation)

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BALKAN ENTENTE AND BULGARIA

Taking into consideration:

That Bulgaria adheres to the policy of the reaffirmation of peace within the Balkans, and that she desires to share with the Balkan States relations of good neighbourliness and trustful collaboration, and

That the States of the Balkan Entente are inspired as regards Bulgaria by the same pacific spirit and the same desire for co-operation,

The undersigned:

His Excellency M. le Dr. Georges Kiosséivanoff, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, of the one part, and

His Excellency M. Jean Metaxas, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, in his capacity as officiating President of the Permanent Council of the Balkan Entente, acting in the name of all the members of the Balkan Entente, of the other part,

Declare in the name of the States which they represent that these States undertake to abstain, in their mutual relations, from all recourse to force, in conformity with the agreements regarding non-aggression to which each of these States is a party, and that they agree, so far as they are concerned, to dispense with the carrying out of the provisions contained in Part IV (Military, Naval and Air Clauses) of the Treaty of Neuilly, as well as the provisions contained in the Convention regarding the Frontiers of Thrace, signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923.

DONE at Salonica, in duplicate, the 31st July, 1938.

Georges Kiosséivanoff

Jean Metaxas

II

The British Minister at Sofia to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria

BRITISH LEGATION

SOFIA, 1st December, 1938

No. 164

Your Excellency,

With reference to Mr. Coote’s note No. 112 of 13th August I have the honour to inform you that the contents of the note in which Your Excellency informed him of the Agreement concluded at Salonika on 31st July last between Bulgaria on the one part and Greece, Roumania, Turkey and Yugoslavia on the other were communicated to His Majesty’s Government in Canada.

2. I have the honour at the instance of His Majesty’s Government in Canada to inform Your Excellency that the Canadian Government for their part do not rely on the provisions contained in Part 4 (Military Clauses) of the Treaty of Neuilly or the provisions of the Convention signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923, regarding the Thracian frontier.

I avail myself, etc.,

G. W. Rendel