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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 17, 1984
that war does not start again on German soil." Reinforcing its position,
NEUES DEUTSCHLAND also reprinted a Hungarian article that praised Honeck
er's efforts to make new contacts with the West. Then, on August 3 and 4,
the editors chose not to reprint two other PRAVDA broadsides--an act of un
usual defiance.
East Berlin had reason to believe it had support in some East Bloc quarters.
For the second time, the official Hungarian news agency came out against
the S � viet hard line, instead praising Honecker's foreign policy and
stressing the need for improved East-West relations in order "to bring back
detente." Meanwhile, top ranking East German officials, reported one West
German newspaper, reassured leaders in Bonn that the Honecker visit was
still on and that Romania, Hungary and even Bulgaria backed it.
For its part, Bonn officials tried to downplay the Soviet attacks. Foreign
Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher dismissed the charges, saying "German-Ger
man ties are part of a European peace policy." He said "the time is ripe"
to relax tensions.
Continuing East Germany's independent mode, the monthly magazine HORIZONT,
reflecting the views of the country's foreign ministry, declared that the
Communist parties of different countries should have the right to "follow
their own paths and to arrive at their own conclusions."
Moreover,
editorialized HORIZANT, the German Democratic Republic was "autonomous in
matters domestic and diplomatic."
"I can't ever recall an instance of such defiance," responded a West German
expert on East German affairs.
What is the significance of the new thaw in East-West European relations,
reflected in the main by the inter-German "honeymoon"?
Teddy Taylor, a
conservative MP in the British Parliament, expressed his views in the Au
gust 5 SUNDAY EXPRESS in an article "Are We About to See the Break-up of the
Eastern Bloc?"
Something very strange and unprecedented seems to be going on be
hind the Iron Curtain..•• Suddenly, things have been changing.
Look first at Rumania.... Not only did it fail to join the
fSoviet Olympic J boycott, but it actually sent a team to Los
Angeles.
Perhaps even more significant has been the recent activity of the
East German rulers.
East Germany has for many years been
regarded as the Soviets' most loyal ally.
But its Communist
boss.•.intends to visit West Germany next month•••• Last year an
official PRAVDA rebuke to any East European nation would have
been more than enough to bring about a change of policy•••.
While the Russians have been gnashing their teeth, the Hungarian
Communist Government has sent an open message of support and
solidarity to the East Germans..••
While these moves have been watched closely by the diplomats, we
have all seen for ourselves on television what has been happening
in Poland•••• Last week, for example, around 10,000 Poles took
part in a great march to the memorial erected to the countless
citizens of Warsaw who were slaughtered by the Nazis while the
Red Army watched from the other side of the Vistula.•••