Reading the signs of the times: Norway, Slovakia and the recognition puzzle, 1939-1940/
Pavol Jakubec
- 2022
Recognition of a claimant polity as a state is a status-related decision with far-reaching political and legal effects. This study addresses the question whether Norway through its foreign minister, Halvdan Koht, entered into a formal diplomatic relationship with the Nazi German satellite of Slovakia in 1939-1940. A claim of recognition complicated Norway's relationship with the representatives of Czechoslovakia in Allied London. Norwegian Foreign Ministry files not previously consulted now make it possible to test and trace the reception and processing of Slovakia's application. Sources also show how minor issues take on significance for bilateral relations in times of high volatility in international life.