The Politis–Kalfov Protocol ( bg, Спогодба „Калфов-Политис“; el, Πρωτόκολλο Πολίτη - Καλφώφ) was bilateral document signed at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...

in Geneva in 1924 between Greece and Bulgaria and was concerning the “protection of the Bulgarian minority in Greece.” However it was not ratified by the Greek side..

History

After the ''

Tarlis incident The Tarlis incident was the killing of 17 ethnically Bulgarian people, Bulgarian peasants by a Greek officer on July 27, 1924, at Tarlis (present-day Vathytopos), a mountainous village in the Kato Nevrokopi region near the Greco-Bulgarian border.

'' 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 , 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 The National Assembly ( bg, Народно събрание, Narodno sabranie) is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. Ordin ...

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 A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

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

, 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 ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative regions of Greece Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...

. Belgrade also was suspicious of Greece's recognition of a Bulgarian minority and was annoyed this would hinder its policy of forced “

Serbianisation Serbianisation or Serbianization, also known as Serbification, and Serbisation or Serbization ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", srbizacija, србизација or sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=none, separator=" / ", posrbljavanje, посрбљавање; ...

” in Serbian Macedonia.. On February 2, 1925, the

Greek Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...

, claiming pressure from the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

, 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