German–Polish Border Treaty

Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland on the confirmation of the frontier between them

Type	Border treaty
Signed	14 November 1990
Location	Warsaw,Poland
Effective	16 January 1992
Signatories	Poland Germany
Languages	German Polish

TheGerman–Polish Border Treaty of 1990finally settled the issue of thePolish–German border,which in terms of international law had been pending since 1945. It was signed by the foreign ministers of Poland and Germany,Krzysztof SkubiszewskiandHans-Dietrich Genscher,on 14 November 1990 inWarsaw,ratified by the PolishSejmon 26 November 1991 and the GermanBundestagon 16 December 1991, and entered into force with the exchange of the instruments of ratification on 16 January 1992.

Historical background

Oder–Neisse linebetween Germany and Poland

In thePotsdam Agreementof 1945, the Allies of World War II had defined theOder–Neisse lineas the line of demarcation between theSoviet occupation zonein Germany and Poland, pending the final determination of Poland's western frontier in a later peace settlement. This transferred extensive regions to Poland, some of which had been underGerman controlfor centuries, reducing Germany to approximately three quarters of the territory as of 1937. TheTreaty of Zgorzelecof 1950 betweenEast Germanyand thePeople's Republic of Polandconfirmed this border as final.West Germany,which saw itself as the only legal successor to theGerman Reichand did not recognize East Germany, insisted that final settlement on the Polish–German border could only be accepted by a future reunited Germany. Although West Germany, for all practical purposes, accepted the Oder–Neisse border in theTreaty of Warsaw (1970),its legal caveat that only a future peace treaty would formally settle the issue remained in effect.

WithGerman reunificationfinally within reach in 1990, the Allies of World War II made full sovereignty for Germany conditional on the final recognition of the Oder–Neisse border, as stipulated in article 1.2 of theTreaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.The signing of a treaty between Germany and Poland recognizing the Oder–Neisse line as the border under international law was also one of the terms of theUnification Treatybetween West and East Germany that was signed and went into effect on 3 October 1990. Poland also wanted this treaty to end the ambiguity that had surrounded the border issue since 1945.

The Treaty

Under the terms of the treaty, the contracting parties

• reaffirmed the frontier according to the 1950 Treaty of Zgorzelec with its subsequent regulatory statutes and the 1970 Treaty of Warsaw;
• declared the frontier between them inviolable now and hereafter, and mutually pledged to respect their sovereignty and territorial integrity;
• declared that they have no territorial claims against each other and shall not raise such claims in the future.

The agreement was supplemented by aTreaty of Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation,signed between Poland and Germany on 17 June 1991.

In the ratification process at the Bundestag, the treaty met with 13 dissenting votes by deputies of theCDU/CSUfaction, among themErika SteinbachandPeter Ramsauer.In 2006 the Polish Foreign MinisterAnna Fotyga,responding to the compensation claims raised by the "Prussian Trust"corporation, stated that the treaty was insufficient and may have to be renegotiated.