Panel Discussion On Berlin Problem

Press, Volume C, Issue 29588, 10 August 1961, Page 15

Panel Discussion On Berlin Problem

The difficulty in finding a settlement tq the Berlin problem was shown in Christchurch last evening. A panel of four failed to’agree on most points. The discussion was arranged by the Christchurch branch of the United Nations Association. On the panel were Mr R. H. Bowron, a lecturer in international law at the University of Canterbury; Messrs W. Robenberg and G. M. Miller, senior lecturers in economics at the university; and Mr G. Kilkpatrick, a former trade union official.

The panel agreed that the solution lay in following the “spirit” of the Potsdam Declaration of 1945. This was summarised as an agreement to create a “democratic and reunified Germany.” The panel also agreed the best way to settle the question was through negotiation. Divisions Mr Bowron said the divisions of Germany into the Federal Republic of West Germany and the People’s Republic of East Germany was a failure to follow the Potsdam Declaration. “Russia on her part recognises the sovereignty of East Germany, and the West recognises the sovereignty of West Germany,” he said. The West would not recognise the East German Government because it regarded it as a “puppet government” of the U.S.S.R. Mr Bowron’.said he thought there was only a likelihood of a “limited solution” to the question. Neither great power wanted to see a unified Germany because of its military potential. He forecast that Russia would sign a separate peace treaty with the East German Government in a few months. What worried the West was whether the East German Government would then recognise the West’s rights to enter West Berlin. This was in doubt. The thousands who daily fled East Germany through

West Berlin was another reason the East wanted to change the status quo of the city.

Mr Rosenberg said the term “peace-loving” was used in the Potsdam Declaration’s reference to a reunified Germany. “The Russians have an awful lot of reasons for believing that a Germany reunified under the West’s conception of democracy would be anything but peaceful. Most of the generals on Western Germany’s staff were generals in Hitler’s army, he said. On the other hand, the East German Government was in league with Russia and less likely to be a threat. “Russia sees a peace-loving country as a country that would not attack Russia,” he said.

Mr Kilpatrick said Russia had continuously asked for peace talks and “all the nols came .from the West.” There was little likelihood of Russia trusting the West German Government, which was part of the anti-Commu-nist N.A.T.O. alliance. New Start Mr Miller said the real answer to the problem lay in “starting over again” by demilitarising Germany. The Russians wanted a solution to the problem and as long as they could get this they would make some concessions. They would probably be satisfied to extend the border to the western boundary of Russia. “For this reason I think we should go along with Mr Khrushchev,” he said. The meeting resolved to express the “fervent hope” that the problem should be resolved in terms of the principles of the United Nations Charter, particularly in terms of the clause that refers to the settlement of disputes by “peaceful means.”