The Romanian Historical Treasury under the Padlock of Moscow: Legal Perspectives on Repatriation

Abstract

This article aims to update the legal perspectives concerning the repatriation request of Romania’s historical treasury. The gold reserves were transported to Tsarist Russia for safekeeping during the First World War. Following the Bolshevik Revolution and the establishment of the communist regime, Soviet authorities refused to recognize the agreements signed in 1916–1917 and declined to return the treasury. The main objective of this paper is to present the legal grounds for the full recovery of the treasury, based on European Parliament resolutions, the principles of public international law, customary international law norms, and bilateral obligations. The methodology involves interpreting relevant legal regulations, international conventions, and European Parliament resolutions. The conclusion is that recent official acts adopted by the European Parliament reinforce the legitimacy of Romania’s claim for the recovery of its historical treasury. In the absence of a diplomatic agreement or treaty, and given that the Russian Federation does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, legal mechanisms such as initiating international arbitration proceedings or mediation through the reactivation of the special commission are proposed.