Politics Stops at the Border

For months Chancellor Helmut Kohl tried to turn a mere legalism into votes. He insisted that the boundaries of postwar Poland, a third of which comprises former German territory, could be finally accepted only by a unified Germany. Kohl never really questioned Poland's borders; they have already been guaranteed by a treaty between Bonn and Warsaw. It was Kohl's lack of sensitivity that upset so many Germans and foreigners. In his effort to retain political support from survivors and families of some 12 million Germans expelled from the eastern regions of the old Reich, Kohl was willing to stoke an international controversy and hand ammunition to foes of unification.

Protests poured in from East and West, but it was Kohl's Foreign Minister and coalition partner, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who called a halt. At a tense 3 1/2-hour meeting of the ruling parties last week, Genscher's Free Democrats warned that they would walk out and bring down the government if the Chancellor did not put the Polish issue to rest. Reluctantly, Kohl was forced to choose statesmanship over politics. "Mistakes were made on all sides," he conceded, "including by me." The Bundestag then adopted a resolution calling on both Germanys to guarantee Poland's borders later this month and sign a final treaty of acceptance after unification.