["News From The German Embassy", December 16, 1966, Vol. 10, No. 15] GOVERNMENT DECLARATION TO THE BUNDESTAG, DECEMBER 13, 1966

(Foreign policy sections)

By Chancellor Kurt-Georg Kiesinger

That peace may be preserved is the hope of all nations, and the German Nation desires this no less than others. The will to preserve peace and to promote international understanding is, therefore, the first word and the primary concern of this Government's foreign policy. It is true that it is the purpose of every foreign policy to serve the interests of the Nation, but in a world in which the destinies of nations are so closely bound up with each other, nobody is permitted to divest himself of his share in the responsibility for this world and the peace of this world.

The German Government advocates a consistent and effective peace policy apt to remove political tension and to check the arms race. We shall cooperate in any proposal for armaments control, for a reduction of armaments, and disarmament. The Federal Republic has given an undertaking to its partners in the alliance to renounce the production of atomic weapons, and has in that respect submitted to international controls. We seek neither national control nor national ownership of atomic weapons.

We are determined to maintain relations with all nations, based on understanding, on mutual confidence, and the will to cooperation.

RELATIONS WITH THE SOVIET UNION

This applies also to our relationship with the Soviet Union, although our relations are still under the strain of the unsolved problem of reunification of our people. During our visit to Moscow in 1955 I was one of those who strongly advocated the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic and the Soviet Union. The development of these relations has certainly disappointed the expectations on both sides. But this should not be a reason for us to reduce our efforts to achieve an understanding step by step and to nurture increasing mutual confidence.

In my last speech before the Bundestag in Berlin on October 1, 1958, I said that the Germans harbored neither ill-will nor hatred towards the peoples of the Soviet Union; that, on the contrary, they wanted to live side by side with them on peaceful and good-neighborly terms, and that they did not think of interfering with the internal affairs of the Soviet Union. In connection with the reunification of Germany, which might seem to the Russians to present problems difficult to solve, political wisdom and a farsighted determination to promote understanding on all sides would surely surmount such difficulties. This is still my conviction today. And this Government will act according to this conviction. The previous Federal Government in its peace note of last March offered an exchange of declarations renouncing the use of force also to the Soviet Union, in order to make it clear once again that it did not seek to attain our aims by other than peaceful means. The Federal Government today repeats this

offer which was addressed also to the other Eastern European countries. It is prepared to include in this offer the unsolved problem of the division of Germany. In order to establish the preconditions for future successful discussions and negotiations, we hope through the development of our economic, intellectual and cultural relations steadily to further and to deepen our mutual understanding and trust.

RELATIONS WITH THE OTHER COUNTRIES IN EASTERN EUROPE

Germany was for centuries the bridge between Western and Eastern Europe. We should like to fulfill this mission also in our time. We are anxious to improve relations with those of our eastern neighbors who share our desire in all fields of economic, cultural, and political life and to establish diplomatic relations wherever this is possible under the circumstances.

Large sectors of the German people very much want reconciliation with Poland whose sorrowful history we have not forgotten and whose desire ultimately to live in a territory with secure boundaries we now, in view of the present lot of our own divided people, understand better than in former times. But the boundaries of a reunified Germany can only be determined in a settlement freely agreed upon with an AllGerman Government, a settlement that should establish the basis for a lasting and peaceful good-neighborly relationship agreed to by both nations.

The German people also wish to come to an understanding with Czechoslovakia. The Federal Government condemns Hitler's policy which was aimed at destroying the Czechoslovakian State. It shares the view that the Munich Agreement which came into being as the result of the threat to use force, is no longer valid. Nevertheless there still exist problems requiring a solution such as, for instance, that of the Law of Nationality. We are aware of our obligation to take care of our Sudeten German countrymen and all other expellees and refugees and we are taking that obligation seriously. Just as the Czechoslovakians had previously, these people have suffered bitter sorrow and injustice. The Federal Government wishes to close this sad chapter in the history of our two nations and to establish with Czechoslovakia good-neighborly relations based on mutual trust.

RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES

We are closely associated with the United States of America by many and varied friendly relations and within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which we are very anxious to see consolidated and developed in keeping with present-day requirements. This Government will not forget any of the extensive measures of assistance which the United States has afforded us in the past two decades.

It is aware that its alliance with the United States and the other parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is still of vital importance to it today and in the foreseeable future. Every alliance is only worth so much and has so much cohesion as the mutual confidence of each partner that the other will show understanding and consideration for its vital interests. That applies equally to the relations existing between the United States and us. Perhaps, in the

past year, we have sometimes put too much emphasis on our own trials and worries and interests in our relations with the United Stateswhich, of course, was understandable in view of our position as the weaker and afflicted partner-without realizing, however, that a big power like the United States also has its worries and problems and expects to find understanding and, if possible, support on the part of its allies. This powerful nation has almost against its own will got into a position that engages it in all continents. We should not forget this and should consider in what way we can share more resolutely than hitherto in the responsibility for the preservation of world peace.

DESIRE FOR A UNITED EUROPE

Every European country willing to do so should, of course, admit that its own strength is limited, and that the European nations could render a much more effective contribution to world peace and the welfare of nations if they were to join forces with one another. We are, therefore, convinced that the economic and political union of Europe is in the interests of the European nations as much as that of the United States. And I venture to express the hope that eventually also the Soviet Union will regard such a united Europe as an essential factor contributing to world peace. To some this may seem too bold a hope, but the magnitude of our task requires us to have the courage to plan ahead, beyond all present-day worries and problems, for a future peaceful order on this planet.

But we do not want to use the desire for a united Europe as an excuse for neglecting to do what we can do now. This Government is therefore determined to make its contribution towards a just and lasting peace in a manner appropriate to the vigor and capabilities of our people.

The existing European Communities, which the preceding Governments of the Federal Republic have supported with steadfast energy, have achieved great progress. We shall exert our influence in favor of the consistent development of the European Economic Community and its institutions. The Community of the Six should be open to all those European States who agree with its aims. We should in particular be gratified if Great Britain and other EFTA countries were to become members of the European Communities.

Progressively we wish to develop and deepen our relations with Great Britain. We shall continue to carry on close and trustful cooperation with Italy. This applies in the same degree to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This Government will urge that, hand in hand with the internal development of the Common Market, a world-open trade policy should be pursued. It will therefore use its influence for a successful conclusion of the Kennedy Round.

FRENCH-GERMAN RELATIONS

As to the future of Europe, the development of Franco-German relations will play a decisive role. The peaceful order in Europe hoped for by East and West is inconceivable without a close and trustful relationship between Germany and France. Farseeing statesmen in our neighbor-countries, in the United States and in the Soviet Union,

have recognized this elementary fact, although from different points of view.

In its attitude towards France, the Federal Government is guided by the following considerations:

1) The facts of European geography and the balance sheet of the history of our continent make apparent under present day conditions a specially high degree of identity of interest of our two nations and countries.

2) Together with France, the oldest ally of America in Europe, we regard a firm alliance between the free and united nations of Europe and the United States of America as indispensable, even if the structure of this alliance may be shaped in future in view of a changing world. We refuse to be persuaded into a false and dangerous alternative to this choice.

3) Together with France, we support the restoration of a European family of nations which has grown up throughout history, an`aim which includes the termination of the tearing apart of our nation which is unnatural and in defiance of history.

4) The Franco-German cooperation which we desire is not directed against any other nation. Rather it is the point of crystallization of a policy the aim of which is the unification of Europe. It is indispensable if Europe is to become a partner sharing responsibilities. A steadily growing convergence of German and French policy is a condition necessary for that Europe which speaks with one voice, as called for by American statesmen. Europe can only be built with France and Germany, but not without one or the other and by no means against one of the two countries. What is important is that concepts involving practical steps should be pursued uncompromisingly. What is desirable must not be allowed to prevent what is possible.

5) Franco-German cooperation in as many fields as possible will be of the greatest value for efforts to improve relations with our East European neighbors.

6) For all these reasons, the Federal Government wishes to make as much concrete use as possible of the opportunities for coordinating mutual policies afforded by the Franco-German treaty signed on January 22, 1963, and will make appropriate proposals.

The peculiar situations of our two nations will show differences of interest and views in the future as well, yet the Federal Government is convinced that such problems carry less weight than the need for economic, technological, cultural, military and political cooperation in ever-widening spheres, a need which is imperative for the future of our two peoples and of Europe.

REUNIFICATION AND RELATIONS WITH THE EAST ZONE

We are grateful to our allies for supporting our standpoint in the question of our divided nation and of its right of self-determination. The political circumstances have so far prevented the unification of our country. And there is still no foreseeing when this aim will be achieved. Even in our efforts to solve this problem, which is so vital to our people, we wish to promote peace and understanding; we are not frivolous troublemakers, for our aim is to remove on the basis of peace and understanding that very source of tension, the partition of Germany, which is also the partition of Europe, and to restore to our

people its peace of mind and its peace with the world. The present Federal Government, too, considers itself the only German Government to have been freely, lawfully, and democratically elected and therefore entitled to speak for all Germans. This does not mean that we want to treat in a patronizing manner our countrymen in the other part of Germany who cannot freely decide their own destiny. We wish to do our utmost to prevent the two parts of our nation from drifting apart as long as the country is divided; we wish to ease the situation, not harden it; we wish to bridge the gulfs, not deepen them. That is why we wish to do all we can to encourage human, economic and cultural relations with our countrymen in the other part of Germany. Where this requires the establishment of contacts between authorities of the Federal Republic and of those in the other part of Germany it does not imply any recognition of a second German State. We shall treat each case on its merits and in such a way that world public opinion cannot gain the impression that we are abandoning our legal standpoint.

The Federal Government is endeavoring to expand internal German trade, which is no foreign trade. It will at the same time seek to provide wider opportunities for granting credit and will consider certain organizational means of strengthening inner German contacts.

The Federal Government will do everything in its power to make sure that Berlin remains a part of the Federal Republic, and will examine with the Senate and the protecting powers how Berlin's economy and status in our legal structure can be strengthened.

We desire to do all that is possible for the welfare of the people in divided Germany, and to make possible all that needs to be done.

RELATIONS WITH OTHER STATES

As regards our foreign policy, we shall preserve and cultivate all our good traditional relations with many nations all over the world.

Since the last war many new states have emerged in Asia and Africa and are now struggling to create internal stability and consolidate their economies. The German people, especially the young people, are following this development with keen interest and sympathy. Our policy, aware of its responsibility for ensuring a just and lasting peace in the world, requires that we should do our best to assist these nations in establishing their economic and political existence within the limits set by our own resources. This also applies to the countries of Latin America. When we think of this objective we remember the great amount of assistance we ourselves and other European countries received after the last world war under the Marshall Plan.

I regret to say that there are at present ten Arab States with whom we do not have diplomatic relations. But we are confident that the traditionally good cooperation with those countries will soon be resumed and further developed in our mutual interest.

The name of our people has been abused by those who committed terrible crimes against Jewish people. Those crimes made our relationship with Israel problematic and difficult, but it has been improved and fostered by the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Federal Government intends to continue this policy.

In this Government statement it was decided not to divide the whole range of political tasks into various sections, as has been the