Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1940, General, Volume I

764.71/253: Telegram

The Chargé in Germany (Kirk) to the Secretary of State

Berlin, August 30, 1940—10 p.m.
[Received August 31—1:53 a.m.]

3826. My 3820, August 30, 3 p.m.⁹⁵ The following is a translation of the text of the arbitral award rendered this afternoon in Vienna as given out by the DNB:⁹⁶

“The Royal Rumanian and the Royal Hungarian Governments have appealed to the Reich Government and to the Royal Italian Government with the request that they settle by arbitration the question outstanding between Rumania and Hungary of the territory to be ceded to Hungary. On the basis of this request and on the basis of the declaration made by the Royal Rumanian and the Royal Hungarian Governments to the effect that they will recognize this arbitral award as binding for them the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and the Foreign Minister of His Majesty, the King of Italy and Albania and Emperor of Ethiopia, Count Galeazzo Ciano, after renewed conversations with the Royal Rumanian Foreign Minister, Michael Manoilescu and the Royal Hungarian Foreign Minister, Count Stefan Csaky have today laid down the following arbitral award:

1. The border marked on the attached map shall be fixed as the final border between Rumania and Hungary. The more detailed delimitation of the border on the spot shall be left to a Rumanian-Hungarian commission.

2. The former Rumanian territory falling accordingly to Hungary shall be evacuated by the Rumanian troops within 14 days and turned over to Hungary in an orderly condition. The various stages of the evacuation and occupation as well as the other formalities shall be determined at once by a Rumanian-Hungarian Commission. The Royal Rumanian and the Royal Hungarian Governments shall see that the evacuation and occupation are carried out in complete calm and order.

3. All Rumanian citizens resident as of today in the territory to be ceded by Rumania shall acquire Hungarian citizenship without further formalities. They shall be entitled to opt for Rumanian citizenship within a period of 6 months. The persons who avail themselves of this right of option shall leave Hungarian territory within the further period of a year and shall be taken over by Rumania. They may take with them their movable property and they may furthermore liquidate their immovable property up to the time of their removal and take with them freely the proceeds; should this liquidation not prove possible they shall be compensated by Hungary. Hungary shall treat all questions connected with the resettlement of the optants in a generous and obliging manner.

4. The Rumanian citizens of Hungarian nationality who are resident in the territory ceded by Hungary to Rumania in 1919⁹⁷ and now remaining in Rumania shall have the right to opt for Hungarian citizenship within a period of 6 months. The principles laid down in paragraph 3 above shall apply for the persons who avail themselves of this right of option.

5. The Royal Hungarian Government shall solemnly undertake to treat in every way as the other Hungarian citizens are treated those persons who obtain Hungarian citizenship on the basis of this arbitration decision but who are of Rumanian nationality. The Royal Rumanian Government shall solemnly undertake the similar obligation with respect to the Rumanian citizens of Hungarian nationality who remain in its territory.

6. The settlement of other isolated questions arising out of the change of sovereignty shall be left to direct negotiation between the Royal Rumanian and the Royal Hungarian Governments.

7. In the event that difficulties or doubts should arise in the execution of this arbitral award the Royal Rumanian and the Royal Hungarian Governments will inform each other directly in the premises. Should they thereby not be able to reach an agreement about a question they will submit this question to the Reich Government and the Royal Italian Government for final decision.

Vienna, August 30, 1940.”

Kirk

95. Not printed.
96. Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro.
97. For the territory ceded by Hungary to Rumania under terms of article 27 (3) of the Treaty of Peace, signed at Trianon on June 4, 1920, see Treaties, Conventions, etc., Between the United States of America and Other Powers, 1910–1923 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1923), vol. iii, pp. 3539, 3555.