German-Czech declaration

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The German-Czech Declaration (actually German-Czech Declaration on Mutual Relations and Their Future Development , Czech Česko-německá deklarace o vzájemných vztazích a jejich budoucím rozvoji ) is a fundamental document of the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech Republic from 1997, in in which both sides declared that they "will not burden their relations with political and legal issues stemming from the past" . At the same time, they agreed to set up the German-Czech Future Fund .

The declaration signed on January 21, 1997 by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Federal Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel as well as Prime Minister Václav Klaus and Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec in Prague was approved by both the German Bundestag (January 30) and the Czech Parliament (February 14).

prehistory

As part of the new Ostpolitik under Chancellor Willy Brandt , the then Federal Republic of Germany had also established diplomatic relations with Czechoslovakia - the Prague Treaty of 1973 regulated the basics: in addition to the renunciation of force, the inviolability of the common border and the declaration that no territorial claims were to be raised against each other agreed to regard the Munich Agreement of 1938 as void. After the upheavals of 1989/90 with the Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution and the unification of the two German states , a neighborhood agreement was concluded in 1992, in which, among other things, the rights of the respective minorities, i.e. the Germans in the Czech Republic and the Czechs and Slovaks in Germany, "their ethnic , to freely express cultural, linguistic and religious identity” . Questions of property were expressly left out of the contract – for example, possible compensation for expropriation and expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia .

After the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic submitted a formal application for EU membership in January 1996.

After the negotiations between the two governments, the declaration was approved by the German Bundestag on January 30, 1997 with a majority of 577 votes after a discussion lasting around three hours; 20 MPs from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group voted against, 23 MPs from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and the PDS abstained. In contrast, a controversial four-day debate was held in the Czech Chamber of Deputies, some of which lasted late into the night. The Communists and Republicans opposed the statement, and some other MPs also had reservations. In particular, the critics feared that the declaration could pave the way for German revisionism and claims for compensation from the Sudeten German expellees, since the relevant points were not regulated clearly enough. The debate was marked by many interruptions, often caused by Communists and Republicans, who made multiple motions to postpone the debate. On the evening of February 14, 1997, the House of Representatives passed the declaration by a vote of 131 to 59.

contents

The declaration consists of a preamble and eight points. Point one emphasizes the further development of relationships "in the spirit of good neighborliness and partnership" , whereby the "joint path into the future requires a clear word on the past". The second point expresses German regret about the Munich Agreement, the break -up and occupation of the Czechoslovak Republic and the National Socialist dictatorship, while the third point expresses Czech regret about the suffering and injustice caused by the expulsion , expropriation and expatriation of the Sudeten Germans and the fact that excesses were not punished . Point four is central, which states that “each side remains committed to its legal system and respects the fact that the other side has a different legal opinion. Both sides therefore declare that they will not burden their relations with political and legal issues stemming from the past.”

In point seven, the establishment of a German-Czech future fund is agreed , in point eight the continuation of the work of the German-Czech Commission of Historians and the establishment of a German-Czech discussion forum .

Follow

Both the European Union and the Council of Europe welcomed the declaration, but the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft rejected it. The German-Czech Future Fund was founded on December 29, 1997 as an endowment fund under Czech law with its registered office in Prague .

The Czech Republic joined the European Union with the eastern expansion on May 1, 2004.

See also

web links

itemizations

  1. ↑ German Bundestag: Stenographic Report, 154th session, January 30, 1997, http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btp/13/13154.pdf
  2. ↑ Shorthand report of the 8th session of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, February 11, 12, 13 and 14, 1997 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the German-Czech Declaration on the Mutual Relations and their Future Development and The Council of Europe and the Czech-German Declaration
  4. ↑ Cf. David Binar: The neighbors approach each other only hesitantly. Article in the world of June 16, 1997.