Agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Romania concerning German war graves in Romania and Romanian war graves in the Federal Republic of Germany
The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Romania – hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties, desiring to to create a final settlement for German war graves in the territory of Romania and for Romanian war graves in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany from the two world wars, in an effort to ensure the protection, preservation and maintenance of these graves in a dignified manner and in accordance with the principles and provisions of applicable international humanitarian law, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
(1) For the purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them:
a) German war dead:
- members of the German armed forces;
- persons assimilated to them in accordance with German law;
- other persons of German nationality who have died in connection with the events of the two world wars;
b) German war graves:
the graves of German war dead within the territory of Romania;
c) German war gravesites:
the cemeteries or parts of cemeteries in which German war dead are buried, existing or to be created in the territory of Romania.
(2) For the purposes of this Agreement, the terms:
a) Romanian war dead:
- members of the Romanian armed forces;
- other persons of Romanian nationality who died in Germany in connection with the events of the two world wars, provided that they were protected by international humanitarian law at the time of their death;
- persons of Romanian nationality who died in Germany as a result of Nazi acts of violence or who died on German soil as a direct result of such acts;
b) Romanian war graves:
the graves of Romanian war dead within the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany;
c) Romanian war cemeteries:
the cemeteries or parts of cemeteries in which Romanian war dead are buried, existing or to be newly established within the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Article 2
(1) The Government of Romania and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany shall ensure the protection of war graves and perpetual rest for the war dead of the other Contracting Party in the territory of their respective states and shall keep the surroundings of these war graves free from all installations that are incompatible with the dignity of these graves.
(2) The Federal Republic of Germany shall guarantee the preservation and maintenance of Romanian war graves in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany at its own expense.
(3) The Government of Romania shall permit the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to restore and maintain German war graves and German war cemeteries in Romania at its own expense.
Article 3
(1) The Contracting Parties shall guarantee each other, for the past and the future, free of charge and for an unlimited period of time, the exclusive use of the areas of land serving as war graves as permanent resting places for their respective war dead.
(2) This Agreement shall not affect the ownership rights in the areas of land referred to in paragraph 1. Any changes deemed necessary to the boundaries of areas of land used as war gravesites shall be determined by agreement between the Parties. If, by agreement between the Parties, an area is no longer used in whole or in part for the intended purpose, this change shall result in the loss of the right to use it.
(3) Should a site as defined in paragraph 1 be needed for another purpose on imperative grounds of public interest, the Contracting Party in whose interest the measure is to be taken shall make available to the other Contracting Party another suitable site and shall bear the costs of the reburial of the dead and of the preparation of the new graves. The selection of the new site, its preparation and the carrying out of the reburial shall be carried out in agreement with the Contracting Parties.
Article 4
(1) The Romanian Party shall permit, without incurring any costs as a result, and after having been presented with a plan for prior approval, the German Party to consolidate the graves of German war dead whose reburial is deemed necessary by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. The reburial of German war dead shall be carried out by forces designated by the German side.
(2) A record shall be kept of each reburial, stating the old and new grave location, personal details, the inscription on the dog tag or other identifying features.
(3) Insofar as it can be proven that formerly existing German war gravesites on Romanian soil have been abandoned due to infrastructural changes that have taken place in the meantime and the German dead buried there can no longer be recovered, the Romanian Party shall, at the request of the German side, permit the erection of memorials in a simple and dignified form at these former sites. The Romanian Party shall provide a suitable place for this purpose. In agreement with the Parties, a similar procedure shall be followed if previously unknown Romanian war gravesites are discovered on German sovereign territory.
Article 5
Insofar as graves of war dead from other countries are located at German or Romanian war gravesites, in addition to the graves of the other side, this fact shall be given due consideration in decisions regarding the preservation and maintenance of these graves.
Article 6
(1) The repatriation of German war dead from the territory of Romania to the Federal Republic of Germany requires the prior consent of the German Party. The Romanian Party shall only permit such repatriation if this consent has been obtained.
(2) The consent of the German Party is also required for applications to the Romanian Party for the repatriation of German war dead to third countries.
(3) Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the repatriation of Romanian war dead from the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany to Romania or to third countries.
(4) All costs and fees for the disinterment and repatriation of German or Romanian war dead shall be borne by the applicants.
(5) Representatives of the authorities of both parties may be present when German or Romanian war dead are removed from their graves for repatriation.
Article 7
(1) The German party commissions the “Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.” (hereinafter referred to as “VOLKSBUND”) with the technical implementation of the tasks in Romania that arise for the German side from this Agreement.
(2) The Romanian Contracting Party shall commission the Ministry of National Defence and the Department for Public Administration with the technical implementation of the tasks arising for them from this Agreement.
(3) In the event that the German Contracting Party or the Romanian Contracting Party wishes to commission another institution or organization, agreement shall be reached between the Contracting Parties.
Article 8
(1) The Contracting Parties shall afford the institutions or organizations of the other side named in Article 7 of this Agreement every possible assistance, in particular access to records concerning war dead and war graves of the other side which are or will be available at the authorities and other institutions of their country.
(2) The VOLKSBUND may send representatives, specialists and other personnel to Romania to carry out its tasks.
Article 9
(1) In carrying out the work arising from the implementation of this Agreement, the VOLKSBUND shall, as far as possible, employ local labor and use local materials under conditions prevailing in free competition.
(2) The VOLKSBUND may also import into and re-export out of the Federal Republic of Germany or another Member State of the European Union to Romania equipment, means of transport, materials, devices and accessories necessary for the performance of the work referred to in this Agreement.
(3) The following shall apply to the customs clearance of the goods referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article:
a) temporarily imported equipment, devices and means of transport shall be cleared on import-export customs declaration upon their import into Romania, with the proviso that the said equipment, devices and means of transport shall be re-exported after the work has been completed;
(b) Materials and articles intended for the construction, decoration or maintenance of war graves, memorials or cemeteries shall be admitted free of import duties if, in addition to the regular import declaration, the customs authorities are presented with:
- an exact list of the imported goods,
- a declaration of commitment signed by a duly authorized person containing the binding assurance that the said goods will be used only for the purposes provided for in this Agreement.
(4) In cases covered by Article 4 (3), third sentence, of this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall also seek an amicable solution with regard to import and customs matters.
Article 10
(1) Pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 1 of this Agreement, the VOLKSBUND shall be authorized to carry out all work relating to the construction and beautification of German war gravesites, as well as the construction of suitable access roads, recreation rooms and other facilities for visitors, within the framework of the relevant Romanian legislation.
(2) The VOLKSBUND shall ensure that the legal requirements concerning hygiene and health protection, as provided for in the Romanian laws, as well as the relevant legal and administrative regulations concerning cemetery regulations, are observed during construction work.
Article 11
This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period and shall enter into force one month after the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other that the necessary domestic requirements for entry into force have been met. The date of receipt of the last notification shall be decisive for calculating the period for the entry into force of the Agreement.
Done at Bonn, June 25, 1996, in two original copies, each in the German and Romanian languages, with each wording being equally binding.
For the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany: Kinkel
For the Government of Romania: M e l e s c a n u