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Is German Reunification on the Agenda?
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17252 |
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Section : |
EDITORIAL
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1990 |
1,548 Words |
| Author
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Morton A. Kaplan
Editor and Publisher |
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
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