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reconciliation intended to heal the
breach between Europe's most
bitter foes of the past. He suc–
ceeded: the following year, West
Germany and France signed their
"Treaty of Friendship and Coop–
eration."
Mr. Giscard spoke of a shared
destiny between the trans-Rhine
powers: "Never have our coun–
tries been so bound together.
Never have we been so close."
West Germany and France have
grown together, he said, and
"now no longer aim cannons
across the rivers at one another,
but offer instead their hands in
friendship," adding that France
a nd W est Ge rm a n y were
"ob l iged to use ou r united
strength to preserve Europe from
a shadowy existence and return it
to its proper role of might and
importance in the world."
:;:
Mr. Giscard concluded by rais–
J.
ing his glass to "Franco-German
~
friendship-may it serve not only
¡¡;
~
peace but from now on also the
!
influence of E u rope i n the
world."
EUROPE MUST RESTORE
ITSPOWER
Schmidt Cautlous
In bis reply to the speeches by
President Giscard and other
French officials, Chancellor Hel–
mut Schmidt pointedly refrained
from supporting a n obvious
French initiative for putting
Westero Europe on equal politi–
cal footing with the U nited States
and the Soviet Union.
AND INFLUENCE"
by
Gene Hogberg
1
N A SUMMER
chock full of
high-powered summit confer–
ences, the five-day s tate visit
of Pr esident Valéry Gi scard
d'Estaing to West Germany, be–
ginning July 7, was an easy one,
especially for Americans, to over–
look.
President Gi scard's trip to
Bonn and otber selected sites–
the first official visit to Germany
by a French president since
Charles de Gaulle's histori e
fence-mending journey in 1962-
was loaded with significance.
Call for " lndepende nt Role" fo r
Europe
Throughout his trip, President
Giscard d'Estaing urged Western
Europe to take a more indepen-
dent role in world atrairs, imply–
ing that the region should loasen
its dependence on the United
States in political and military
matters.
On the fi rst night , at a banquet
given in his honor in Bonn, the
French leader said that France
and West Germany must act
together to prevent Europe from
falling into political oblivion and
restare its power and influence in
world atrai rs.
"Jf
we succeed we
will have rendered a g reat service
to peace and the balance in the
world, which, as we see every day,
needs an independent and strong
Europe," he said.
Mr. Giscard drew attention to
the significance, 18 years earlier,
of President de Gaulle's tour of
West Germany is a nonnuclear
power, dependent more so than
France on the American nuclear
umbrella, and therefore cannot
afford to so easily express its
desires for independence as can
France.
Nevertheless, at a press confer–
ence concluding the visit, Mr.
Schmidt supported closer Franco–
German cooperation, saying he
welcomed France's decision to
modernize its independent nuclear
forces. The move, he said , was in
harmony with last December 's
NATO decision to deploy nearly
600 cruise missiles and Pershing Il
missi les in an effort to counter
what military analysts say is a
The
PLAIN TRUTH