Office of the Historian

349. Proposal Submitted by the Soviet Delegation0

Geneva, undated.

PROTOCOL ON THE GUARANTEES OF THE STATUS OF THE FREE CITY OF WEST BERLIN

The Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the United States of America and of the Republic of France for the purpose of ensuring the observance of the status of the Free City of West Berlin have agreed on the following:—

Article 1

The States Parties to this Protocol jointly guarantee the status of the Free City of West Berlin.

Article 2

For the purpose envisaged in Article 1 of this Protocol the States Parties to the Protocol shall maintain on the territory of the Free City of West Berlin on the parity basis small military contingents with the total strength up to … men.

(A variant: the States Parties to this Protocol agree that small military contingents [with the total strength up to … men]1 may be maintained by neutral States on the basis of an agreement among the Parties to this Protocol.)

The presence of the said military contingents on the territory of the Free City of West Berlin should in no way be considered as occupation of that territory.

The military contingents shall not interfere in the internal affairs of the Free City of West Berlin.

The legal status of the military contingents shall be determined by a special arrangement between the four States Parties to this Protocol and the authorities of the Free City of West Berlin.

Article 3

The States Parties to the Protocol agree to establish a Permanent International Commission composed of the representatives of the States Parties to the Protocol and of the German Democratic Republic.

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The functions of the said Commission shall be to supervise the observance of the status of the Free City of West Berlin and the ensuring of the City’s independence. The Commission shall pay a special attention to the observance of the status and, in particular, to that which pertains to the demilitarisation of the Free City, to the prohibition to carry out there hostile activities directed against any State and also to the non-interference in the internal life of the Free City of West Berlin.

For the purpose of discharging the functions of the Commission its members and its officials shall enjoy on the territory of the Free City of West Berlin such privileges and immunities as are necessary for an independent performance of their functions.

The Commission shall establish its rules of procedure.

The authorities of the Free City of West Berlin shall render every assistance to the Commission in the performance of its functions.

Article 4

The Permanent International Commission shall annually submit to the Parties to this Protocol and to the German Democratic Republic as well as to the Security Council an information report on the results of the supervision it carries out under Article 3 of this Protocol.

Article 5

The Permanent International Commission shall inform the Parties to the Protocol of all cases of violation or a threat of violation of the status of the Free City of West Berlin.

The States Parties to the Protocol shall, upon consultation with each other, take in such cases appropriate measures which may be considered necessary to ensure the observance of the status of the Free City.

Article 6

This Protocol shall come into force from the day of its signing. It shall be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations.

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1384. No classification marking. Handed to the Western Foreign Ministers by Gromyko at their private meeting on June 1; see Document 348. A Russian text of the proposal is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1363.↩
  2. Brackets and ellipses in the source text.↩