The Press SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1972. Easter in Berlin

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32886, 8 April 1972, Page 16

The Press SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1972. Easter in Berlin

It was still a one-way Easter traffic in Berlin. West Berliners were permitted to visit the city’s eastern zone; but East Berliners were not allowed by their Government to enter the Western zone. The ban on political communication with West Germans continues to be an essential part of East German official thinking; and Mr Honecker, as leader of the Government, has no more intention of lifting it than had his predecessor, Mr Ulbricht. Nevertheless, Mr Honecker must be finding it hard to explain to his people why the demand for easier communication with West Germans, particularly in Berlin, must still be denied. Since the opening of the Polish-East German frontier—customs barriers and frontier formalities were abolished on January I—Poles1 —Poles have flooded into East Germany to visit and to buy consumer goods. Mr Honecker must expect the call for comparable concessions in West Berlin to become louder and, in a political sense, more embarrassing.

For that reason, ratification by the Bonn Parliament of the treaties negotiated by Chancellor Brandt with Poland and Russia is becoming increasingly important to him. The Russian and East German Governments have made it abundantly clear that the new four-Power agreement on Berlin, at present awaiting signature, will not become effective if the treaties are not ratified. Under the agreement, interference with transport between west and east would cease; and West Berliners, who over Easter made their first visit to the eastern zone for six years, would have right of entry conceded on at least 30 days a year. It is significant that the Easter concession was announced by Mr Honecker on the day before the Bonn debate on the treaties opened, presumably in the hope that it might influence the voting in Mr Brandt’s favour. The treaties had failed their first test in the Upper House, where the Opposition Christian Democrats have a 21-20 majority. Now Mr Brandt must win an absolute majority in the Lower House or, in all probability, go to the country a year before a General Election is due.

The critical vote will come at the end of the third-reading debate on the ratification bill in midJune. Mr Brandt so far has little reason to feel optimistic about the outcome. But in a snap election he might attract enough support, particularly among the younger voters, to give his Social Democrats the clear majority he needs in both Houses. Many young Germans, it is believed, feel that his bid to ease East-West tensions deserves to succeed. At this stage It would be unwise to overrate the importance of Mr Honecker’s Easter gesture. But he is at least being more conciliatory, which suggests that he is also awaiting the result of the ratification division in the Bundestag with some anxiety.