site.btaJuly 31, 1938: Bulgaria, Balkan Entente Sign Salonica Agreement

An Agreement between Bulgaria and the States of the Balkan Entente (Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia) was signed in Salonica on July 31, 1938.

The parties committed to abstain, in their mutual relations, from all recourse to force and agreed to dispense with the carrying out of the provisions contained in Part IV (Military, Naval, and Air Clauses) of the 1919 Peace Treaty of Neuilly, which Bulgaria was forced to sign after its defeat in WW I, as well as with the provisions contained in the Convention regarding the Frontiers of Thrace (under the Treaty of Peace with Turkey), signed at Lausanne on July 24, 1923.

The initiator of the Salonica Agreement was Great Britain, supported by France. Through the Agreement, both powers aimed to settle relations between Bulgaria and the Balkan Entente and ease tensions on the peninsula in order to erect a barrier to German-Italian expansion towards the Straits and the Middle East. For their part, the Balkan Entente states sought to prevent the escalation of tensions in the Balkans and strengthen their defensive capabilities along their borders.

The Agreement removed the weapons restrictions imposed on Bulgaria after WW I by the Treaty of Neuilly. All parties committed to a policy of non-aggression.

The Salonica Agreement eliminated some of the most burdensome clauses of the Treaty of Neuilly for Bulgaria, but it did not fully resolve the political disputes among the Balkan countries.