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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER 16, 1983
chill relations between the two Germanys if the U.S. missiles
were deployed. Late last week East German leader Erich Honecker
stressed the need for continued East-West "political dialogue"
and promised to "try to limit the damage as much as possible" in
relations with Bonn. He added that the planned deployment of new
Soviet missiles in his country isn't "cause for celebration."
Czechoslovakia, the other nation due to receive additional Soviet
missiles in the wake of the UoS. deployment in Western Europe,
also displayed rare skepticism. An official Czech publication
recently noted that it had received numerous letters from citi
zens expressing "doubt whether the recently announced measures
for the strengthening of defense" were necessary. Romania, which
frequently plays the maverick in the Soviet bloc, went so far as
to lump together the U.S. and Soviet deployments as targets of
criticism.
U.S. analysts said that these complaints put Moscow in an awkward
spot. On the one hand, the Soviets want East European nations to
toe the line and enthusiastically endorse Soviet policy. On the
other hand, Moscow wants the East Europeans to maintain good
enough relations with the West to preserve economic benefits that
the Soviets would be hard-pressed to match. As a result, these
new sources of discontent in Eastern Europe, combined with the
economic malaise that pervades the Soviet bloc, could create
major problems for the Soviets. "If that happens, then it could
be quite serious for them," says Marshall Shulman, a professor at
Columbia University and a Soviet analyst in the Carter adminis
tration. "It could be the spark that sets off latent national
and political r�sentments in Eas�ern Europe."
Needed: Help From Western Europe to "Finlandize" the East
Now we present excerpts from a rather remarkable far-ranging analysis on
the future of Europe given by an official in the Press and Information
Office of the West German government, Klaus Bloemer.
Under the title,
"Freedom for Europe, East and West," the article appeared in the Spring
1983 issue of FOREIGN POLICY. Herr Bloemer states that the views expressed
are his own, not necessarily those of his government. Simply stated, Herr
Bloemer calls for the "political emancipation of Europe--East and West
u
from under the military dominance of both superpowers, a security relation
ship between Western Europe and the Soviet Union and the offering of mas
sive economic assistance to the Soviets in return for Moscow permitting all
of Eastern Europe (including East Germany) to be released into a neutral
type of existence similar to that of Finland. The result, he proclaims:
"two self-governing halves of Europe."
It is a harsh truth that the political emancipation of Europe-
East and West--will proceed with difficulty as long as Western
EuroperemaTns utterly dependent upon the United States. The
basis for an autonomous West European foreign policy...lies in a
Western Europe allied to the United States but not unilaterally
dependent upon it.... Countless historical, geographic, cultur
al, and strategic interests require that West European countries
enter into � kind of security relationship _ � the Soviet
Union•••. Efforts to forge a separate peace w1th1n Europe must
get under way •...