An Interview with Helmut Kohl

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Piped classical music plays softly in the background. A pen-and-ink drawing of Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first postwar Chancellor, hangs in solitary prominence on one wall. Outside the office of the present Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, gardeners, mow the lawn and vacuum the leaves shed by the towering oak trees that screen the building from the Rhine near by. In an interview with Time Inc. Editor in Chief Henry Anatole Grunwald and TIME Bonn Bureau Chief Roland Flamini last week, his first interview with a U.S. publication since taking office, Kohl spoke of his strong personal commitment to the Atlantic Alliance and of the need for a solid defense posture toward Moscow. Excerpts:

On German-American relations: I believe that in the course of the past few years European-American relations have been defined too much in a military way. Of course it is important to talk about missiles. It is also important to count arms. However, NATO is in the first place a community of ideas, not a community of arms. As a matter of fact, the community of arms is there to defend the community of ideas. The important point is that we have common ideas regarding human rights, civil rights, our moral values, our moral laws. These have to be defended by the alliance. Hence it is vital that these common ideas be stressed again, in particular with a view to the younger generation.

This partnership is a partnership of countries having equal. rights. We are equal partners. Quite naturally, sometimes we have divergent interests, and these we should discuss with one another. Let me put it this way: we should talk more to one another instead of talking about one another.

The link I feel with the U.S. is something that is really a personal experience, and this is true for many in my generation. After the war, when I was a student of about 16 or 17, when we were half starved, it was the Americans who helped us. We have forgotten neither the Hoover assistance nor the CARE parcels.

On East-West tensions: The fact is that Communist ideology throughout the past decade has been and continues to be aggressive. On top of that it has been linked to the old Russian claim to being a world power. There are the immense armaments that have been built up in the East. Next, take the fact that treaties have not been honored. There is the Final Act [1975] of Helsinki [which enshrined detente], and contrary to that there is the invasion of Afghanistan and martial law in Poland. All of these facts arouse the fears and the worries of people living here. However, it is necessary to meet this challenge. And we have met it by adopting the double-track decision of NATO. This means that we are genuinely ready for disarmament, for detente on a worldwide and controlled basis. But at the same time, if there are no results in the first half of that decision, then we shall not remain silent and simply keep on watching.