SUCCESSION AGREEMENT

The Agreement on Succession Issues of the Former SFRY, signed in Vienna on June 29, 2001, entered into force on June 2, 2004, following its ratification by all successor states.

An integral part of the Agreement is Annex D which regulates the issue of succession of archival material.

Annex D.

Archives

Article 1

(a) For the purposes of this Annex, the term "State archives of the SFRY" refers to all documents, regardless of the date or type and current location, created in the SFRY or received by the SFRY (or any previous constituent structure of the SFRY). the Yugoslav state (December 1, 1918) in the process of performing its functions, which on June 30, 1991 belonged to the SFRY in accordance with its internal legislation and in accordance with the Federal Law on Archival Material of the Federation, kept under it or under its control for any needs.

(b) For the purposes of this Annex, the term "Republic or other archival material" refers to the archival material of any state, in their former role as constituent republics of SFRY or their territorial or administrative units, and refers to all documents of any date or type, regardless of where they are located, which were created or received by any of these republics or territorial or administrative units, in the process of performing their functions and which on June 30, 1991 belonged to them in accordance with the applicable laws and were in accordance with the law on archival material of each Republic, kept under it or under its control for any needs.

(c) The term "Documents" in the preceding paragraphs includes film, audio and video tapes and other records, as well as any computerized record, including documents constituting cultural heritage.

Article 2

If the Republic or other archive material is transferred from the republic to which it belongs or if the State archive material of SFRY is transferred from its real location, it is based on the provisions of this Annex and the international principles of provenance, by the state that currently has control over it, will be restored as soon as possible to its true location.

Article 3

Part of the State Archives of SFRY (administrative, registration and archival documents), required for normal management of the territory of one or more countries, should be handed over, in accordance with the principle of functional pertinence, to the respective countries regardless of where it is kept archive material at the moment.

Article 4

a) Part of the State Archive Material, which is a group of material that

1. applies directly to the territory of one or more States, or
2. which originated or was brought into the territory of one or more States, or
3. consists of state agreements kept in SFRY and refers only to matters related to the territory or institutions based in those territories, to one or more states, should be handed over to those states, regardless of where they are kept at the moment that archival material.

b) Pending the division of the State archives, according to this article

1. The Republic of Macedonia should be handed the original of the Agreement on Water Economy Problems between SFRY and Greece, signed in 1959 (Official Gazette of SFRY No. 20, June 4, 1960) and the Agreement on Preservation and Restoration of Border Markings in Yugoslav -Greek border, in order to protect, prevent and resolve border incidents (Official Gazette of SFRY No. 20, February 26, 1959).
2. the original text or certified copies of the 1975 Osmis Agreement and the Osmis Agreement and all related agreements, archives and preparatory material relating to their negotiations and implementation, to be made available to Croatia and Slovenia in order to enable, with full control of that material, to negotiate with Italy concerning the consequences which these treaties have on their countries.

Article 5

If, in accordance with Article (3) or (4), the archive material is to belong to more than one State, those States shall agree on which of them shall receive the original and allow the others to make copies.

Article 6

a) With regard to the State Archives of the SFRY, which is not subject to consideration in Articles 3 and 4, the States with an agreement to be reached within 6 months from the date of entry into force of this Agreement shall determine its proper distribution between them or retention as a common heritage of the states that will have free and uninterrupted development to it. If no such agreement is reached, the archives will become a common heritage. In both cases, each country can make copies of the relevant archives, and the costs will be shared fairly.

b) The agreement referred to in paragraph (a) will take into account all relevant circumstances, including the effort to respect as much as possible the principle of the totality of the state archives of the SFRY, in order to facilitate its full availability and fund research. Respect for the integrity of archival funds does not presuppose the question of where a particular archival fund should be kept. The ministries or departments responsible for the archives in a particular country, within 24 months from the entry into force of this Agreement, should identify the funds and exchange with each other the lists of archival funds to which this principle applies, and then in the next period of three months to comply with a single such list. They shall also, within 24 months of the entry into force of this Agreement, establish and exchange among themselves the lists of archival material to which Articles 3 and 4 may apply.

Article 7

Pending the implementation of this Agreement, free and unimpeded access of the representatives of the interested parties to the State Archives of the SFRY, dated June 30, 1991 or before, will be enabled. This approach also applies to the Republic and other archival material (except the current archival material) kept in the respective countries.

Article 8

The Republic and other archival material is the property of the respective state and is not subject to the provisions of this Annex, except for Articles 1, 2 and 7.

Article 9

Private archives are not subject to the provisions of this article. Those taken away from their owners after December 1, 1918, must be returned in accordance with the international principles of provenance according to the place of origin or the owners, without any compensation or other conditions.

Article 10

Where bilateral state agreements were concluded on June 30, 1991, concluded by the SFRY and those agreements have not yet been implemented, the states interested in that archival material are ready to take over the rights and obligations that previously belonged to the SFRY, and are regarding the implementation of these agreements.

Article 11

a) The current holder of the original archive material to be transferred in accordance with this Annex may make copies thereof.

b) The costs of making the copies in accordance with Articles 5 and 11 shall be the subject of further agreement by the States concerned.

c) The costs for transport of the archive material incurred in accordance with this article, should be borne by the recipient.

d) The current holder of the archive material to be transported or copied in accordance with this Annex should contribute to the greatest possible reduction in those costs.

e) The State making the archives available for copying shall provide the best available document for copying and shall grant free and equal access to all States wishing to make copies.

f) The state that possesses the original documents that are part of the State archive material of SFRY should provide the user who expresses his interest with access to the documents for making certified copies, needed as evidence, if the copy available in another country is not usable for its legitimate needs.

Article 12

Within 3 months from the date of entry into force of this Agreement, the representatives of the ministries or departments responsible for the archives of the respective countries should meet and proceed to the implementation of this Annex as soon as possible.

The established Joint Committee established in accordance with Article 4 of this Agreement shall organize such a meeting and conduct an initial general oversight of the implementation of this Annex.