Residence and withdrawal contract

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Withdrawal of Soviet weapons and equipment via the port in Rostock in 1991

Residence and withdrawal contract ( AAV ) is the abbreviation for the contract between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the conditions of temporary residence and the modalities of the scheduled withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany from October 12, 1990.

Historical classification

One of the prerequisites for the reunification of Germany as a member of NATO was the termination of the stationing of Soviet troops in Germany on German soil. Accordingly, it was agreed in Article 4 of the Two-Plus-Four Treaty of September 12, 1990:

“The governments of the Federal Republic of Germany , the German Democratic Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics declare that the united Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have agreed in contractual form the conditions and the duration of the stay of the Soviet armed forces in the territory of today's German Democratic Republic and Berlin as well as the execution of the withdrawal of these armed forces, which will be completed by the end of 1994 in connection with the implementation of the obligations of the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, to which paragraph 2 of Article 3 of this Treaty refers will be."

This obligation was implemented with the AAV. On the one hand it legitimized the temporary stay of Soviet troops in Germany and on the other hand regulated the circumstances of its termination.

On October 9, 1990, the agreement between the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on a number of transitional measures was signed. In particular, the agreement regulated financial benefits from Germany in connection with the introduction of the DM in the territory of the Soviet armed forces, loans, payments for transport costs and for the construction of housing for the military in the European part of the USSR . The Bundestag approved the agreement by law of October 19, 1990.

Essential content

  • Art. 2:
    • The USSR will no longer reinforce its troops in the residence area, including its armament
    • Soviet troops bound by German law
    • German authorities respect the legal status of the Soviet troops
  • Art. 4
    • Start of the deduction with the entry into force of the contract, termination by the end of 1994
  • Art. 6
    • Authorization to perform maneuvers and exercises
  • Art. 8
  • Art. 16
    • Customs and tax breaks
  • Art. 17
    • Civil and administrative jurisdiction: jurisdiction of German courts that apply German law
  • Art. 24
    • Liability for damage to third parties according to the regulations that would be applicable if German armed forces were responsible for the damage under otherwise identical circumstances
  • Art. 25
    • Mixed German-Soviet commission to settle differences of opinion regarding the interpretation or application of the AAV

Consent Act

On October 18, 1990, just six days after the signing of the contract, the coalition factions presented the draft of the approval law. With the law of December 21, 1990, the Bundestag approved the contract. In addition, the six-article law contained further domestic regulations on which decisions and a. the Federal Court of Justice , the Federal Fiscal Court , the Federal Labor Court and other courts.

Entry into force and legal succession

After the exchange of the instruments of ratification, the treaty entered into force on May 6, 1991. After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the Russian Federation declared in a note that it would continue to exercise its rights and fulfill its obligations under the international treaties established by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Transitional regulations

As shown, the AAV was only concluded after reunification and did not come into force until May 1991. For the stay of Soviet armed forces in the accession area, however, legitimation was required from October 3, 1990. At the end of September 1990 negotiations on the AAV were almost complete. The Bundestag therefore passed the law on the entry into force of agreements on the temporary residence of armed forces of the French Republic , the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America in Berlin and of Soviet armed forces on the basis of Article 3 of the Unification Treaty named after the establishment of German unity of September 24, 1990. The law regulated u. a. the permission of the Soviet armed forces to stay in the new federal states and in Berlin (Art. 1). In addition, the Federal Government was empowered to enact a provisional agreement with the USSR by ordinance, which was to regulate both the limited stay of the Soviet armed forces in the residence area and their planned withdrawal (Art. 2). The relevant provisions of the law came into force on October 3, 1990 (Art. 6). This provisional agreement came about with an exchange of notes on September 26, 1990 between the Foreign Office and the Soviet embassy in Bonn. The ordinance of September 28, 1990 - like the agreement - entered into force on October 3, 1990.

Mixed German-Soviet commission

On November 27, 1990, the German-Soviet Mixed Commission met for its constituent meeting in accordance with Article 25 of the Residence and Withdrawal Agreement. On the German side, Ambassador Franz Bertele was appointed chairman of the mixed commission, on the Soviet side Boris Vasilyevich Snetkow , the commander in chief of the western group of the Soviet armed forces in Germany . To implement the contract, a total of twelve working groups were formed for the various areas.

Individual evidence

  1. a b BGBl. 1991 II pp. 256, 258 , PDF
  2. Federal Law Gazette 1990 II p. 1654 , PDF
  3. Bundestag printed matter 11/8154
  4. Announcement of May 15, 1991 ( Federal Law Gazette 1991 II p. 723 , PDF).
  5. Announcement of the note dated January 13, 1992 of August 14, 1992 ( Federal Law Gazette 1992 II p. 1016 , PDF)
  6. BGBl. 1990 II p. 1246 , PDF
  7. BGBl. 1990 II p. 1254 , PDF