Secret Protocol Between Greece And Serbia

Secret Protocol Between Greece And Serbia

Athens, 22 April 1913

His Excellency Mr. Lambros A. Coromilas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, and His Excellency Mr. Mathias Boschkovitch, Minister of Serbia in Athens, acting on behalf of their governments and in accordance with their instructions, held a conference today and agreed as follows:

I. The Governments of Greece and Serbia bind themselves to conclude and sign a treaty of amity and of defensive alliance within a period of twenty days from the signature of the present instrument.

2. It will be covenanted in that treaty that the two governments will give mutual aid to each other that Greece and Serbia may have contiguous boundaries to the west of the Axios (Vardar) river and that the fixing of the new boundaries shall be done in principle on the basis of effective possession.

The general direction of this boundary shall be as follows:

Starting from the mountain range of Kamena Planina (Kamma) which delimits the high Schkoumbi to the southwest side of Ochrida Lake, the boundary line will pass round this lake to the south; it will reach the western shore of the Prespa Lake to the Kousko village, and passing through the lake it will reach Dolni Dupliani on the eastern shore; from there it will pass in the direction of the east near Rahmanli, will follow the line of the separation of the waters between the Erigon (Tserna) river and the Moglenica and will reach the Axios (Vardar) river at about three kilometres to the south of Ghevgheli.

The Greeco-Bulgarian as well as the Serb.-Bulgarian boundary lines shall be fixed on the basis of the principle of effective possession and the equilibrium between the three States.

The Serbian boundary line to the north of Ghevgheli will follow the Axios (Vardar) river as far as the confluence of the Bregalnitza river, which it will ascend to a point of the old Turkish-Bulgarian boundary.

The Greco-Serbian boundary line will run to the south of Kilkitch to the north of Nigrita, through Orliako, and from there, by the Achinos (Tachinos) lake and the Angitis (Anghista) river, will descend to the sea a little further to the east of the harbor of Eleutherai.

All these boundary lines will be fixed in a more detailed manner and will be inserted in the text of the aforesaid treaty of alliance.

3. The Goverments of Greece and Serbia bind themselves to proceed together, to afford to each other constant assistance in the negotiations which will be opened in regard to the division of the territories ceded by Turkey, and to mutually support the boundary lines indicated above, between Greece and Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria and Serbia and Bulgaria.

4. Should a dissension arise with Bulgaria in regard to the boundaries above indicated and a friendly settlement become impossible, the Governments of Greece and Serbia reserve to themselves the right to propose jointly to Bulgaria that the dispute be submitted to mediation or arbitration. In case Bulgaria should refuse to accept this manner of peaceful settlement and assume a menacing attitude or attempt to impose her claims by force, the two governments, in order to secure the integrity of their possessions, bind themselves to afford to each other military assistance and not to conclude peace except jointly and together.

5. A military convention shall be concluded with the least possible delay for the purpose of preparing and insuring the necessary defensive measures in case one of the two States, without provocation on its part, should be attacked by a third Power. [...]

7. The Greek Government binds itself to afford all the facilities and to guarantee for fifty years the entire freedom of the Serbian export and import trade through the port of Salonika and the railway lines from Salonika to Uskup and Monastir.

8. The present instrument shall be kept strictly secret. [...]

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece - The Minister of Serbia L. A. COROMILAS - M. BOSCHOYITCH

Source: Yugoslavia Through Documents, from its creation to its dissolution; edited by Snezana Trifunovska; Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Published on Pollitecon