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Is German Reunification on the Agenda?
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17252 |
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EDITORIAL
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| Issue
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2 / 1990 |
1,548 Words |
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Morton A. Kaplan
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The special report in Current Issues this month deals with the momentous events transpiring in East Germany. The fall of the Honecker leadership resulted from pressure by Soviet President Gorbachev, an exodus to West Germany of skilled young Germans, and huge demonstrations in East Germany. This was only the latest of the surprising developments that have taken place in Eastern Europe that have fueled anxious reflections in the West about its attitudes toward the East.
Because events in Germany led to immediate speculation that they might be a precursor to German reunification, French President Francois Mitterrand stated quickly that France would not stand in the way of German reunification if that is what Germans wanted. And he convened a conference of Western European powers to consider the events in the East and how they might contribute to its democratization and economic development.
It is unlikely that a president of France would be enthusiastic about German reunification, and President Mitterrand later did warn West Germany against pressing for it precipitately. A reunited Germany would have massive weight in Europe and would introduce enormous problems in the development of the Europe scheduled to emerge from the political reforms that are supposed to be implemented by 1992.
President Mitterrand, I am sure, understands that the worst stand for France to take would be one that attempted to deny Germans their natural right to common statehood. He does, however, have an interest in delaying reunification and in creating a climate within which reunification, if it takes place, will do so only after consultation with Germany's European neighbors and consideration of the relationship of a united Germany to the European Community.
The idea of German reunification, despite its popularity in West Germany, has not aroused universal enthusiasm. Lech Walesa has expressed significant doubt. The claims that right-wing groups in West Germany are making upon former German territory that is now part of Poland, even if the view of only a small minority, are bound to worry any Polish leader.
President Gorbachev has also displayed a lack of enthusiasm for German reunification and has warned against external pressure upon East Germany. He has criticized West German Prime Minister Helmut Kohl's proposed confederation and his promise of substantial economic aid in return for economic and political liberalization in East Germany as coercive, despite the fact that the offer has the full support of the West German Socialist Party.
I believe that all the players are aware that rapid reunification would create more problems than it would solve. Integration of the two economies and political systems would not be simple. Surrounding states might feel threatened by rapid developments to which they did not have time to adjust. The Soviet marshals might get restless if they thought that Soviet Russia's defenses were threatened. And Gorbachev would worry that too rapid change in Eastern Europe might have cataclysmic consequences inside Russia.
Still, reunification is an issue that no West German politician can oppose. The constitution of the Bundesrepublic provides all East Germans with rights of citizenship. Unlike the constitution of the GDR, which
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