Succumbing to Moscow's Pressure

By John Kohan

Honecker loses his tug of war and postpones his trip

The East German delegation arrived punctually at the Chancellery offices in Bonn last Tuesday morning to negotiate final details of the visit to West Germany by East German Communist Party Leader Erich Honecker. At similar regular sessions during the past three months, the four East German envoys and their West German counterparts had agreed that Honecker would meet with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at a health spa hotel. They had even decided that the Wiebelskirchen musical corps would serenade the East German leader at his birthplace in the Saarland. With the visit less than a month away, they had come to discuss the wording of the final communique that both German leaders would issue at the end of the trip.

Just as the negotiations were about to begin, Philipp Jenninger, the head of the West German delegation, asked East Berlin's envoy to Bonn, Ewald Moldt, to step into his office for a private chat. Jenninger asked the East German if rumors that Honecker might not be coming to West Germany on Sept. 26 were true. Replied Moldt awkwardly: "The timing of the visit is no longer realistic." Thus came the earliest official word that the first visit by an East German Communist Party leader to West Germany had been postponed -perhaps indefinitely.

Moldt released a statement later vaguely hinting that "many questions are still open." But the rest of the message effectively dampened speculation that the Honecker trip would be rescheduled any time soon. The East German diplomat expressed no regrets for the last-minute cancellation. Instead he blamed the West Germans, charging that "the style and public dispute about this visit in the Federal Republic have been extremely degrading and detrimental."

The Western world had a different opinion of who was responsible. The left-of-center Rome daily La Repubblica summed up the reaction in the bold headline THE HAWKS OF MOSCOW HAVE WON! The West German tabloid Bild carried a similar refrain: HONECKER, NYET! Said a top-ranking U.S. official: "This has got to impress everyone in the East bloc. They all want more autonomy, but the message from Moscow is that there are limits."

Few Western observers doubted that pressure from the Soviet Union was the main factor behind the decision. Suspense had been building for weeks about the East German leader's visit. The Soviet Union had made clear, in a virulent propaganda campaign against the West Germans, that Honecker ought to think twice about seeking to improve relations with Bonn. The shrill tone of the attacks left no doubt that Moscow expected East Berlin to support to the full the Soviet hard line against the deployment of new U.S.-built missiles in Western Europe.

In recent months Moscow's guidance to the East-bloc satellites has not always been clear, and even Czechoslovak officials have complained about fuzzy communications with the Kremlin. "The Soviets are very insecure right now," said a West German expert on Soviet affairs. "They feel a need to impress discipline on Eastern Europe. Just as they have decided to retreat from world affairs for the moment, they want their minions to do the same."

For a time, it had seemed that Honecker was torn between a desire to pursue closer ties with his neighbor to the west and still keep the peace with his allies to the east. But as one Soviet watcher in Bonn observed: "The question 'Will Honecker come or will he not come?' appeared like a tug of war between the Soviet Union and East Germany, and that is a tug of war that the Soviet Union could not lose." In retrospect, Western observers were surprised that Honecker had held out against Moscow as long as he did. With as many as 380,000 Soviet soldiers stationed on its soil, East Germany has never had much room to maneuver. But then, Honecker has never shown any willingness to challenge the Kremlin openly, either.

The thaw between Bonn and East Berlin this year has contrasted with the deepening chill between the superpowers. Honecker has seemed intent on pursuing detente despite the U.S.-Soviet deadlock. An unprecedented number of political and cultural delegations have exchanged visits across a barbed-wire border that was virtually impenetrable. So far this year, West German banks have extended credits, backed by Bonn, totaling $330 million to East Germany, which, in turn, has eased some restrictions on travel and allowed more than 30,000 of its citizens to emigrate to the West. Thus, even if the news that Honecker had postponed his trip was not entirely unexpected, it still hit people on both sides of the border with a jolt.

The blow fell hardest on the East Germans, who were still resentful over the Soviet-led boycott of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Faces visibly dropped as news of the canceled visit passed down a line of pensioners waiting at the Friedrichstrasse border crossing in East Berlin. "Have you heard?" said one elderly woman. "The trip is off." Holding back tears, her companion replied, "I knew it." Reacting later, an outspoken young East German writer offered a more bitter assessment: "Honecker has bowed to Soviet pressure again." Explained a Western official in the East German capital: "There is almost nothing more important in East Germany than contacts between East and West. The postponement is almost a national tragedy. It hurts, and confirms the sense among the people of their own powerlessness and ability to be manipulated."

West Germans were eager to interpret every statement from East Berlin last week in the most positive light. Still, the Kohl government could not hide its disappointment at the turn of events. "The momentum from both sides seemed to be just right for the visit," said a Western diplomat. "Now a lot of air has been let out of the balloon." West German Negotiator Jenninger said he expected that "dialogue wanted by both sides" will continue. He challenged the East German explanation that "public dispute" over the trip in the West had forced Honecker to stay home.

Some politicians in Bonn were not so ready to let the government off the hook. Former Chancellor Willy Brandt, chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party and architect of Bonn's Ostpolitik in the late 1960s, denounced the "garrulous dilettantism" of Kohl's coalition. Christian Democratic Coalition Parliamentary Leader Alfred Dregger was singled out for blame. He had angered the East Germans by bluntly stating in an interview with the conservative daily Die Welt that "our future does not depend upon whether Herr Honecker pays us the honor of his visit." The East German Communist Party daily Neues Deutschland labeled the remarks "scandalous and provocative abuse" and added that Honecker "in the face of such developments is not pushing for a visit to the Federal Republic."

For several weeks, the Soviet press has aimed a steady barrage of criticism at the Bonn government, openly accusing some West Germans of seeking to fulfill Hitler's dream of changing Europe's borders. The propaganda onslaught reflected the Kremlin's frustration over its failure to block the deployment of the Pershing II missiles in West Germany, but it also fed on deep-rooted fears about the reunification of Germany. Last week Pravda accused Kohl of supporting German groups that oppose the postwar division of Europe. "The imperialist circles in West Germany," the official Communist Party daily declared, "are now dreaming of the liquidation of East Germany -if not today, then tomorrow." Pravda published an equally harsh attack on General Hans-Joachim Mack, NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, noting that "European nations remember perfectly well what these typically German generals brought them 45 years ago." There have been no signs that the campaign is about to let up.

At first, the Honecker regime tried to downplay the anti-German hysteria and even cautiously challenged Moscow with editorials in Neues Deutschland that supported a policy of detente with the West. During the past two weeks, however, the East Germans have begun to echo Moscow in accusing West Germany of "re-vanchism," the desire to restore the boundaries that existed before World War II. In Leipzig, students returning for the first day of school were asked to display pictures that they had drawn of tanks protecting their homeland from the West. Stories began to spread that Honecker would have to endure insults and would be pelted with eggs and tomatoes if he made the trip.

The West Germans knew something was amiss when Honecker avoided making any comments about East-West relations during a noticeably short visit to a West German exhibition at the Leipzig Trade Fair early last week. Said a Bonn official who watched the puzzling performance: "That was not the look of a man about to go West." A West German environmentalist who met with Honecker shortly after the decision to postpone the trip was made public said that the East German leader had complained about the "gross insults" he had received from Bonn. But Honecker also expressed his continuing determination to "limit the damage" from the arms race in Europe. Said a U.S. official: "He took it as far as he could, and then decided that this was not the time to press ahead."

Given that West Germany continues to be the Soviet Union's largest trading partner in the West, Honecker could hardly be faulted for seeking closer economic ties with Bonn. The taciturn East German leader, perhaps, also had his sights set on higher things. After 13 years in power, Honecker may have hoped that a visit to West Germany would enhance his reputation as an international leader and boost his nation's prestige abroad, at the same time sending a signal to the Kremlin of a desire for more independence.

Moscow is not ready to take the same risk with East Germany. Honecker bent under pressure from the Kremlin this time, but the Soviets cannot be certain that they will have their way.

"One must not underrate the great bond between East Germany and the Soviet Union," said a West European diplomat in Moscow last week. "But East Germany is going to grow up. It is intensifying its policies toward the West to emphasize its sovereignty."

If so, Moscow can expect further troubles ahead as its East European allies strive for greater maturity. Honecker is not the only Warsaw Pact leader with wanderlust. Bulgarian Chief Todor Zhivkov had been scheduled to visit Bonn this month but his trip was cancelled after the Honecker announcement. Rumanian President Nicolae Ceauc,escu has announced that he plans to visit Bonn in October, although Moscow might have other plans.

With reporting by Erik Amfitheatrof, Gary Lee