NID: GERMANYS: PARTY LINKS MULTIPLYING

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826824
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Publication Date: December 15, 1989

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826824
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GERMANYS: Parts. Links NIultiplying
The two Germanys are rapidly expanding political and economic tie;
andhancellarKohls visit on Tuesday may accelerate this trend.
Offic:al links also arc expanding rapidly. West German Economics
Minister Haussmann met yesterday with East German Premier
Mod-ow and other officials and agreed to form a joint economic
commission to expand trade and investment. East German Foreign
Minister Fischer and West German officials also met Wednesday to
discuss unspecified security issues: earlier this week Bonn and East
Berlii agreed to hold their first high-level military talks
011ie � groups have been even more ambitious. The East German
opposition group Democracy Now yesterday proposed a three-stage
plan Fora united, neutral Germany.
Comment: The expanding network of links is outpacing formal policy
decis.ons and moving the two Germanys toward de facto unity. The
root cause is the weakness of East German institutions: for example,
West German support probably will play a major role in determining
which East German parties can compete effectively in the election set
for 6 May.
Kohl will finalize the joint economic commission proposal during his
visit and probably complete agreements on infrastructure projects.
He may offer a major aid program. He also will use his visit to
advance his proposals for confederal political structures, but plans
like those of Democracy Now make it more difficult for him to retain
public support for measured progress toward confederal institutions.
The growing economic ties he is arranging will in any case push
East Germany toward a more market-oriented economv and lay the
economic groundwork for reunification.
eGrL
TCS 2990/89
1 15 December 1989
Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826824