World: Europe: The End of World War II

(2 of 3)

Berlin Problems. When Walter Scheel reached Moscow three weeks ago, he insisted that the agreement make clear that Bonn was not renouncing Germany's right to reunification. From almost the beginning, the clowning and informal Scheel seems to have hit it off with the austere Gromyko. In the formal talks at the Spiridonoff Palace, Scheel stressed that Soviet concessions on Berlin were essential to any agreement. Specifically, he demanded signs of progress in the stalled four-power talks about Berlin. At one point, Gromyko snapped at Scheel: "Berlin is not your concern"—meaning that the divided city remains a four-power responsibility. The Soviets refused to give formal assurances concerning Berlin. But later, Gromyko promised Scheel privately that, once the renunciation-of-force treaty was signed, the Soviets would cooperate with the three Western Allies to improve the position of West Berlin. The Bonn delegation accordingly proceeded with the initialing of the treaty, but insisted that the West German government would not offer the document to the Bundestag for final ratification until progress on the Berlin question has taken place.

On the last afternoon, Gromyko disappeared into the depths of the Kremlin, where the treaty was approved at a special session of the Politburo. In the early evening, Gromyko drove to the guest villa on Lenin Hill, where Scheel was staying, and the two made arrangements for the initialing of the agreement the next day, and for the exchange of two accompanying letters.

The first letter, from Bonn to Moscow, will state that German aspirations toward eventual peaceful reunification are not contradictory to the spirit or intent of the new treaty. The second, from Bonn to the Allies, which the Soviets will formally acknowledge, will declare that the Bonn-Moscow agreement does not prejudice Allied rights in Germany, including Berlin, nor does it preclude an eventual peace treaty that could allow a reunification of East and West Germany. On both points, the Soviets acceded to Bonn's demands.

Security Conference. In many ways, the key ingredient of the Treaty of Moscow is what it may do for Europe tomorrow. Writes TIME Correspondent Benjamin Cate: "The Bonn-Moscow accord certainly will lead to similar treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, and to a third German summit with Walter Ulbricht's East German regime. Western Europe, which has leaned so heavily in America's direction for 25 years, will begin to right itself and gradually pull away from America's orbit. Because of the expected expansion of the Common Market, the dream that Charles de Gaulle so cherished of a Europe standing apart from the two superpowers may become a reality. It will not be a Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals, but it might be a Europe from the Atlantic to the Elbe."