The Politis–Kalfov Protocol (; ) was a bilateral agreement signed in 1924 at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in Geneva between Greece and Bulgaria. It addressed the “protection of the Bulgarian minority in Greece.” However it was never ratified by the Greek government..

History

After the '' Tarlis incident'' in which 17 Bulgarian peasants were killed by a Greek soldier on July 27, 1924, near the Greco-Bulgarian border, tensions between the two countries increased. As result on 29 September, 1924 a protocol was signed at the

in Geneva by Nikolaos Politis and Hristo Kalfov, concerning the ''“Protection of the Bulgarian minority in Greece.''” This agreement constituted the first official acknowledgement by Greece that a Bulgarian minority existed there. The Bulgarian National Assembly quickly ratified it in October. The protocol obliged Greece to treat all members of this minority according to the terms of the Treaty of Sevres. Greek side agreed to sponsor Bulgarian minority schools; to allow the presence of Exarchist priests if they obtained Greek citizenship and to open a minority affairs bureau in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, to administer minority rights. Meanwhile, in Greece internal reaction against the Protocol arose, because public opinion stood against the recognition of any “ Bulgarian” minority in

Northern Greece Northern Greece () is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used to refer mainly to the two northern regions of Macedonia and (Western) Thra ...

. Belgrade also was suspicious of Greece's recognition of a Bulgarian minority and was annoyed this would hinder its policy of forced “ Serbianisation” in Serbian Macedonia.. On February 2, 1925, the

Greek Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme democratic instit ...

, claiming pressure from the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, which threatened to renounce the Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1913, refused to ratify the agreement. On 29 May 1925 the Greek government maintained that Greece was open to any suggestions concerning the “ Slavic-speaking linguistic minority” but that the existence of an ethno-religious, i.e. Bulgarian Exarchist minority was completely unacceptable.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Politis-Kalfov Protocol Bulgaria–Greece relations 1924 in Greece 1924 in Bulgaria 1924 in international relations Ethnic groups in Greece Treaties of the Second Hellenic Republic Treaties of the Kingdom of Bulgaria Unratified treaties

History

See also

References