English Translation

M Ceheim By the declaration of independence of Slovakia and by the subsequent creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . the Czecho-Slovak Republic has perished. Thus it has also lapsed as a subject of international law. The political treaties which the Czechos-Slovenia had concluded with other states have therefore lapsed. It will have to be examined by the Federal Foreign Office whether, in order to clarify the facts, a communication from the Reich to the contracting parties of the Czechoslovak Republic on the cancellation of political obligations is necessary and appropriate. Non-political contracts, in particular commercial contracts, will not necessarily have to have been declared void. Rather, it will be decisive to what extent the empire has an interest in maintaining the contract and to what degree the contracting party agrees to maintain it. In this case, negotiations with the contracting parties will require regular adaptation to the new international legal situation.In the same way, it will be necessary to examine to what extent contracts of the previous Czechoslovak Republic with the Reich are still valid and need to be amended.The Protectorate is not to be regarded as an independent legal entity under international law. This can be concluded informally from the wording of Article 1 of the Führer's Decree, according to which the Protectorate belongs to the territory of the Great German Reich and has become part of the Reich. A contrary view can be derived, if appropriate, from Article 6 of the decree, which speaks of the "foreign" affairs of the Protectorate, which the kingdom will lead in the way it accords to the common interest. the position that the Protectorate as such, for example, is still a member of the world postal service, but that its voice is led by the Reich as the representative of the Protectorates to the outside world. The Protectorate has become a part of the Reich under state law. The last and highest decision-making power therefore lies with the Pührer and his representative for the Protectorate, the Reich Protector. The orders of the Reichsprotector are governed by the orders of departments of the autonomous administration of the Protectorates and are