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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, OCTOBER 22, 1982
PAGE 5
Herr Kohl's tempo has been fast. He surprised everybody by making his first
international visit immediately following his initial cabinet meeting. He
popped over to Paris to pay his respects to French President Francois Mit
terrand. French government officials were delighted, of course, that Herr
Kohl visited them first rather than going to Washington (which Kohl has
said he would visit shortly). The quick trip thereby helped soothe French
hurt at the demise of Bonn's socialist government. The WESTDEUTSCHE ALLGE
MEINE ZEITUNG also reported favorably on Herr Kohl's first official inter
national contact:
With his spontaneous first visit immediately after taking office,
the new Chancellor has presented himself in Paris in a positive
light.
The transition from Schmidt to Kohl could hardly have
been smoother. This is a symbol which proclaims priority and
continuity of French-German relations...•Contrary to prematurely
voiced concerns, the new chapter of cooperation has had a good
start.
NORDDEUTSCHER RUNDFUNK (North German Radio) commented on October 4, 1982:
Helmut Kohl, the newcomer to foreign policy, with his visit to
the Elysee Palace seized the opportunity for an international
entree•..which may enhance the profile of the new CDU Chancellor.
For the French President it is important to neutralize, through
swift cooperation with Bonn, the anticipated pressure which the
French economy.••is liable to face.
About a week later, on October 13, in his first major policy statement to
the Bundestag, Chancellor Kohl outlined Bonn's foreign and domestic
(meaning economic) directions.
On the foreign affairs front, Herr Kohl
pledged to "strengthen and stabilize" West Germany's ties with the United
States.
Detente is by no means dead, but Bonn will pursue more of a
realistic, slightly distanced relationship to the Soviet Union (which, of
course, was sorry to see Schmidt depart}. Bonn will stick to NATO's "twin
track" decision to talk to Moscow in Geneva about limiting new intermediate
range nuclear weapons, but to suppert the u.S. in deploying them if no
agreement is reached (guaranteeing a showdown with the anti-nuclear
"Greens") •
Outlining his new economic agenda before the Bundestag, Kohl declared,
almost reminiscent of the late John F. Kennedy, "The question for the fu
ture is not how much the state can do for its citizens.••but how to make
freedom, dynamism and self-reliance blossom again." In other words, Ger
mans need to return to their once-hallowed work ethic and not depend so much
on the government.
Saying the state and the taxpayers are being
progressively overburdened, Kohl noted that the country's extensive social
security system had been based on "optimistic predictions of constant
economic growth." Now, he said, West Germany is in its "worst economic
crisis" since it was founded, with productivity and capital formation
declining, bankruptcies at an all-time high, and unemployment expected to
reach 2.5 million (up from 1.85 million now) this winter.
Kohl announced an "emergency program" of cuts in government spending to
revive the economy and "preserve the social state by strengthening its
economic basis." The Chancellor called the cuts a "breathing space" in