$Unique_ID{bob00191} $Pretitle{} $Title{Unified Germany Statements by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany} $Subtitle{} $Author{Press and Information Office} $Affiliation{German Embassy, Washington DC} $Subject{europe german germany germans republic unity unification treaty federal union} $Date{1990} $Log{} Title: Unified Germany Book: The Unity of Germany and Peace in Europe Author: Press and Information Office Affiliation: German Embassy, Washington DC Date: 1990 Statements by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany Resolution on the German-Polish Frontier adopted by the German Bundestag on 21 June 1990 Treaty of 18 May 1990 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic establishing a Monetary, Economic and Social Union Policy Statement in the German Bundestag by Dr Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, on the Treaty of 18 May 1990 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic establishing a Monetary, Economic and Social Union, on the External Aspects of German Unity, and on German-Polish Relations Bonn, 21 June 1990 Rarely in its history has the German Bundestag faced such important decisions as the one confronting us today. I. After over 40 years of painful separation, the hopes of the people of Germany for the unity and freedom of all Germans are about to be fulfilled. Now that the Treaty establishing a Monetary, Economic and Social Union and the resolution on the border of the future united Germany with Poland have been adopted, decisive steps must be taken towards restoring Germany's national unity. It is vital that we prove equal to this historic opportunity and that we make use of it with dignity and circumspection, in the awareness of our responsibility. We can appreciate the significance of this hour only by recalling the experiences of our fellow Germans in the GDR during the last 40 years. They have overcome a system which brought great suffering, misery and despair to many people, some of whom sacrificed their lives. During the last few days in particular we have again witnessed the infamy of that system, which cooperated with terrorists who committed murder here in the Federal Republic of Germany. The wall and barbed wire are the terrible symbols of a time in which Germans were prevented from meeting with other Germans. Today we especially mourn those who were imprisoned in the Stalinist camps, humiliated, tortured and not infrequently murdered in prisons and penitentiaries. All of them, especially the victims of 17 June, wished to live in freedom and human dignity. They fought for truth and against falsehood, against a regime forced upon them by others. We must never forget their hardship. Such things must never be allowed to happen again in Germany. Particularly on an occasion like today, we must all be aware of our duty towards them. Particularly on such a day we must all be aware that for us Germans the motto of 1945 - "never again war , never again dictatorship" - has not only a national but an international dimension. During the past 40 years there have been men and women from almost all parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag who from its very first session were passionately and staunchly committed to the goal of freedom and unity for all Germans. Vicariously for the many people who would have been happy to witness this hour, I should like to quote Kurt Schumacher, the former SPD chairman. He said in the debate on the first policy statement by Konrad Adenauer in September 1949: "We hope that, despite all differences in social, political and cultural outlook, the issue of German unity will be treated with the same warmth of heart and the same political resolve throughout Germany." Today, too, this spirit of solidarity should guide all members of this House, particularly now that we have the opportunity to fulfill the mandate of our Basic Law. Of course, no one can say today how we will by judged by the generations to come. Nonetheless the decisions to be taken today by the German Bundestag are of vital importance for the future of our nation. And I am convinced that each one of us will one day be judged by whether he or she faintheartedly backed away or gave full support on this momentous occasion. The Federal Government now intends to create the conditions for all Germans to be able to live together soon in freedom, peace and prosperity. We face one of the greatest structural tasks since the war. The Treaty establishing a Monetary, Economic and Social Union represents an important step on the path towards unity. For the people in Germany, this will make unity come true in vital areas of their daily existence. This will give our fellow countrymen in the GDR the opportunity for rapid, extensive improvements in their living conditions. They are pinning their hopes on this Treaty and they expect us to make these hopes come true. The intra-German Treaty is an expression of the solidarity among the Germans: once again the Germans in the Federal Republic and the GDR are and will continue to be firmly linked with one another. The Treaty manifests the desire of all Germans to face the future together in a free, united Germany. I call upon all members of this House to endorse this Treaty. It charts the course towards unity, and those who do not accept this course do not want unity. It is important for the people in the GDR to know that in Federal Republic, too, the message of the solidarity is supported by a large majority across party boundaries. Those who reject the intra-German Treaty are rejecting our fellow countrymen in the GDR; they are questioning our ability to cooperate in national solidarity at this decisive moment in German history. I realize that the path on which we are now embarking will be difficult - and the people in the GDR are also aware of this. But they, too, state unequivocally that the Treaty must be adopted. Only if monetary, economic and social union are speedily achieved will it be possible, indeed certain, that Mecklenburg/West Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia will soon become flourishing areas again where it will be a pleasure to live and work. Those who maintain that a more leisurely pace would have been more appropriate are disregarding the realities of the situation in Germany and are once again overlooking the events of the last few months. The people in the GDR have determined the pace of developments and will continue to do so. Hundreds of thousands of resettlers have come to the Federal Republic because they no longer saw any hope for the future in the GDR-people who will be urgently required to rebuild the GDR. Only the prospect of monetary, economic and social union has raised the hopes of many of our fellow countrymen once again. If the adoption of the intra-German Treaty had been put off-on whatever grounds-this would have meant the immediate collapse of the GDR. The number of resettlers would have once again risen dramatically, with devastating consequences. Who would have assumed responsibility for this? The great majority of Germans want the Treaty because they want unity and because they realize that the path now being pursued is the right one. Of course, many people both here in the Federal Republic and in the GDR wonder what these unique developments will mean for them personally - for their jobs, their social security and their families. I take these concerns very seriously. We in the Federal Republic, too, will have to make sacrifices for the great goal of the unity of our country. A nation that was not prepared to do so would have lost its moral strength long ago. It would have no future. But I am sure we will cope with this major task through joint efforts for the benefit of the whole nation. We will need to work hard until we have achieved unity and freedom, prosperity and social equality for all Germans. Many of our fellow countrymen in the GDR will have to get used to new living conditions as well as face a transitional period which will be far from easy. Nonetheless no one will meet with undue hardship. I would like to say to the Germans in the GDR what Prime Minister de Maiziere has already emphasized: no one will be worse off than before, and many will be better off. As far as the Germans in the Federal Republic are concerned, no one will have to make sacrifices as a result of German unification. Rather, if need be we must provide our fellow Germans in the GDR with a portion of the extra economic prosperity we will acquire over the next few years - thus helping them to help themselves. I regard this as an obvious dictate of national solidarity. At the same time it is an investment in our joint future - one which will soon have been repaid in full. For the economic opening up of the GDR will benefit all - the Germans in both East and West, as well as our partners in Europe and throughout the world. Were we ever better equipped, economically speaking, for tackling the joint task of German unity than today? The economy is flourishing, the economic boom is entering its eighth successive year and an end is not yet in sight. When have conditions ever been more favourable? We have every chance of coping with the national challenge facing the Germans if we stand together in a spirit of solidarity and seize the opportunities that now present themselves. We can do it if we recall the qualities which enabled us to built up the Federal Republic of Germany from the ruins of our destroyed towns and countryside over forty years ago. At that time the people established a stable democracy through their courage and their firm determination, their hard work and imagination, and not least their awareness of their joint task. They achieved peace and freedom, prosperity and a high degree of social justice - for one part of Germany. We want those achievements now at last to become reality for the whole of Germany. The intra-German Treaty on which we will vote today is the prerequisite for this. II. The establishment of German unity will gain international acceptance only if the talks on its external aspects are successful, namely the talks between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR on the one hand and the four powers - the United States, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union - on the other. The second meeting to be held within the framework of these so-called "two plus four" talks will take place between the Foreign Ministers tomorrow in East Berlin. Further meetings are scheduled for mid-July in Paris and the beginning of September in Moscow. Following our discussions with all partners in this round of talks I am confident that we will find timely solutions to the remaining questions on the agenda which are acceptable to all sides. In particular, these include relieving the four powers of their rights and responsibilities as regards Berlin and Germany as a whole. Together with our partners we intend to present the results of the "two plus four" talks at the special summit of the CSCE countries due to be held in November. The aim of these talks must be complete sovereignty for a united Germany. Due to its situation in the heart of Europe, Germany has more neighbours than any other European state. We realize that a united Germany will assume special importance within the political and economic structure of the Europe of tomorrow. We have thus been aware from the outset that the unity of Germany will have a fundamental and, of course, an emotional effect on all our neighbours. Almost all of them suffered greatly under the violence of the Nazi regime, and we must understand the questions which many of them ask themselves-and us-today. We will show consideration in this matter. We Germans are one nation, and we expect all our neighbours, partners and friends to support our desire for the unity of our country in freedom. We accept, for our part, that solving the German question is not the responsibility of us Germans alone. Towards the end of a century which brought such devastating wars, suffering and distress to Europe, we wish to achieve lasting understanding and reconciliation with all our neighbours. We want to help build a new, united Europe. The unity of Germany and of Europe are mutually dependent: the advancing process of European unification creates the framework for Germany to achieve unity in freedom. The unification of our country will impart decisive momentum to the political unification of Europe. This also applies to the major objective of a Europe which, as a whole, must find its way back to cultural, economic and political unity. A Germany united in freedom will never be a threat but will rather represent a gain for Europe and all our partners. German soil will be a source of peace and freedom. We want to make this particularly clear as regards our relations with our neighbours in the East - especially Poland and the Soviet Union. Together with the people of Poland, and fully aware of the burden of our past, we must face the major task of shaping a peaceful future in shared freedom for the young generation from both our countries. The Polish people must be made to realize that a free, united Germany wishes to be a good neighbour to Poland as well as a reliable partner on the "path towards Europe". This means that borders must neither be questioned nor changed. They lose their divisive nature only when they are undisputed. We want borders to acquire a new, forward-looking nature - they should be characterized not by separation but by open ways and contacts in a spirit of freedom. Today the German Bundestag, together with the GDR's Volkskammer, is addressing a clear message to Poland: Poland's border with Germany, as it stands today, is final. At no time, either today or in the future, will it be questioned through territorial claims on the part of us Germans. After Germany has been unified this will be reaffirmed in binding form under international law by means of a treaty with the Republic of Poland. Only an all-German Government can provide a signature which is binding under international law on behalf of a future united Germany. And only an all-German parliament can ratify such a treaty. But there is clearly no doubt as to the will of the German people as testified by the German Bundestag and the Volkskammer. We have not forgotten what terrible suffering was inflicted and injustice done to other people and nations by Germans. In my policy statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, I said: "Hitler had wanted, planned and unleashed the war. There was not and cannot be any doubt about that." He waged a total war of enslavement and annihilation on the Polish people. The Polish nation was to be wiped out under German occupation. The Nazi regime is responsible for the war and its consequences, and therefore also-together with Stalin - for our loss of the Eastern part of Germany. The people who lived there were forced to pay a high price for crimes committed by others, without being guilty themselves. There are many people in our country who will be deeply moved and distressed by the statement given here today. They have strong emotional bonds with the country of their forefathers. On a day like this they can feel nothing but grief. No one has the right to disregard their feelings. We honour these people and their feelings, and we can understand them only too well. Nonetheless, we must be equally frank in saying that if we wish to seize the historic opportunity to achieve German unity in freedom we must give a clear answer to the question of the Polish Western frontier. It is not only the Poles who expect this of us. So, too, do all our neighbours and partners in Europe, and particularly the four powers, that is, the United States of America, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Let no one be mistaken: today we face an absolutely clear choice. Either we confirm the existing border or we gamble away the chance of German unity. The decision we must take here today as freely elected Members of Parliament is both right and necessary. It concerns the unity and freedom of Germany and at the same time represents an achievement for peace and reconciliation. I am aware that, in view of the 700-year history of the Germans in the regions beyond the Oder and Neisse, it is not easy for a number of colleagues in the German Bundestag, too, to vote in favour of this resolution. Despite our great joy at the fact that German unity in shared freedom is close to becoming reality as a result of the adoption of the intra-German Treaty, this is not an easy time for anyone. Joy, earnestness and grief exist side by side. We look back on a long shared past during which the towns and villages of Silesia, eastern Brandenburg, Pomerania, West and East Prusia and other regions were home to Germans. They gave this European cultural region its distinctive, historical character. This country, in good times and bad, in its joy and suffering, was home to many generations of Germans. Millions of Germans have their roots there. And German families are still living there side by side with their Polish neighbours. To many Germans the areas east of the Oder and Neisse are still home, being the places which formed their lives. This very basic feeling of personal affection for the area deserves everyone's respect, indeed sympathy. The 700-year history and culture of the German part of eastern Europe is and will remain a fundamental part of the German nation's heritage. It means much to us Germans that the German cultural heritage in Eastern Europe be preserved and cultivated, and I shall personally seek to ensure that it is. It remains a living heritage; it is a lasting, unfading part of our history and of Europe's cultural richness. Many years hence people will still be enjoying Eichendorff's poems, and what Immanuel Kant wrote "on eternal peace"-about a federal system of free states, about the rule of law - still points the way to Europe's future. The truth is - and this should not be suppressed on a day such as this: the expulsion of the Germans from their native regions was a grave injustice. There was no justification, either moral or legal. Nor can we say decades later that it was legitimate. I know that the experience of expulsion and flight still hurts decades later. The death of relatives and friends, the loss of personal possessions and property, was a terrible fate. But those affected would feel the pain even more if we were to remain silent about the injustice done to them. We are therefore grateful for the words which such distinguished people as Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and the writer Andrei Szczypiorski, who received this year's Art and Culture Prize of the German Catholics, and others expressed in the Joint Declaration of the German and Polish Catholics on the occasion of 1 September 1989. They wrote: "The suffering of millions of Germans who were expelled from their homelands and in the process lost relatives as well as their possessions and property arouses sadness and sympathy among Poles and Germans." That is a clear token of reconciliation between the German and the Polish people. Only a few years after the war, particularly those Germans who were expelled issued their wonderful commitment to reconciliation with our Eastern neighbours and to the creation of a united Europe in the form of the Stuttgart Charter adopted in 1950. In it they declared that "the expellees will fully support all efforts aimed at creating a united Europe in which the nations can live without fear and coercion... We who have been expelled from our homelands forego revenge and reprisal. This is our serious and heartfelt resolve in remembrance of the untold suffering which the past decade in particular has inflicted on mankind." Not revenge, not reprisal - with these words which point to the future they gave an unequivocal reply to the terrible events of the past. With that charter they proclaimed to the whole world that the seed of hatred and violence planted by Hitler and Stalin must not keep on producing more injustice. Today the territories beyond the Oder and Neisse rivers have become home to Polish families of the second and third generations. We Germans do not want the two sides to be constantly settling accounts in view of the war and misery, the bloodshed and death of the past. We look forward, to the future of our children and grandchildren. And it will be a future in peace and freedom. But we look in particular to the young Polish generation now living in Pomerania, Silesia and elsewhere, and we call to them: "We want peace. We want understanding and reconciliation. We want a free and united Europe!" The unification of Germany now offers an opportunity to achieve final and lasting reconciliation with the Polish people. The time is ripe. What was possible between Germans and French can, and must, become possible between Germans and Poles as well. In my native region, the Palatinate, I have watched Franco-German friendship grow. That friendship will always be of vital importance to German foreign policy. Only a few decades ago the children there, as everywhere else in Germany and in France, were taught about a supposed "arch enemy". That was my own experience at school. But hatred and antagonism were overcome because the people wanted them to be overcome. They met across open frontiers and got to know one another and thus were able to develop mutual understanding and trust. Today young Germans and Frenchmen form friendships across the Rhine as a matter of course. I would like to see such links across the borders become just as natural between young Germans and young Poles. We must therefore give substance to the German-Polish youth exchange agreement which was signed on my visit to Poland in November 1989 and use it in our efforts to build the common future. We forget all too easily that a free and united Germany can also build on good, indeed excellent, traditions in developing its relations with Poland. Past relations between the two nations have by no means always been overshadowed by discord, hostilities and human suffering. On the contrary, there have been long periods of fruitful exchange and harmonious cooperation. Saint Hedwig is common to both nations. We must also at long last grasp what the Polish writer and philosopher Cyprian Kamil Norvid said in the 19th century: "A nation does not only consist of those things which distinguish it from others but also of the things which link it with others." Even in the worst of times there have been Germans who have shown humanity towards Poles. Apart from the many who allowed themselves to be misused as tools of crime there were also "Ten Just Men", as a Polish diary on the period of the German occupation is titled. They were German patriots who in 1830 - during the Polish struggle for freedom - were fascinated by the Polish cause and longed for it to succeed. It was the parliamentary assembly which preceded the famous one at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, which declared Poland's liberation to be "the sacred duty of the German people". And it was again Poles who in 1848/49 fought under the black-red-gold flag in support of the revolution. These experiences, the common struggle of Poles and Germans to secure freedom, have been partly buried by the crimes of this century - but they have not been lost. They must be rekindled in the memory of our nations. We must not become prisoners of an attitude which only takes note of half of the truth, of the dark chapters of our past. Truthfulness is the first requirement if reconciliation between the nations is to be successful. Reconciliation between Germans and Poles must not exclude anyone; it must embrace the expellees as well. Who could do more to foster understanding and reconciliation than the German expellees, or those Germans still living in the regions beyond the Oder and Neisse, or their Polish neighbours? Precisely these groups can become ambassadors of reconciliation. They have an outstanding role to play as mediators between the nations and cultures. Our common aim must be to create a model of peaceful coexistence in Europe in the territories beyond the Oder and Neisse. There we could demonstrate how different nations and cultures can live together harmoniously in a Europe of diversity. For this we must show tolerance and respect our neighbour, even if he speaks a different language, which he is of course entitled to do. Protection of the rights of minorities is an indispensable prerequisite in this respect. The Joint Declaration signed during my visit to Poland in November 1989 is a mark of progress. Prime Minister Mazowiecki and I stated that "both sides will enable individuals and population groups who are of German/Polish origin or who identify themselves with the language, culture or traditions of the other side to maintain and develop their cultural identity". Much remains to be done to ensure that the people living there can cultivate their culture, customs and traditions. They want to express themselves in their native language - not least in religious services. This, to my mind, should go without saying in a Europe united in peace and freedom. We also said in our declaration: "Both sides are deeply convinced that the commitment of the young generation plays a key role in developing a relationship of trust between the two nations and for peace in Europe." We aim to develop the future in the spirit of such a new mutual trust. Without Franco-German friendship the task of European unification could not have been begun; without German-Polish partnership it cannot be completed. I sincerely hope that in Germany and in Poland conditions will soon be created which will enable us to set the seal on such a German-Polish relationship in a united Europe in the form of a comprehensive treaty on good-neighbourliness and friendship. III. Our target is a peaceful order in Europe in which the people and nations can live together in freedom - a house of freedom for all Europeans, as Konrad Adenauer put it in 1961. That peaceful order in Europe must embrace the democracies of North America as well as the Soviet Union. The United States of America is closely linked to Europe in three ways: through the Atlantic Alliance, through the ever closer cooperation between the United States and the European Community, and through America's active role in the CSCE process. One of the great challenges in the years ahead will be to increasingly involve the Soviet Union in the shaping of Europe's future - politically, economically, culturally, and in matters of security. The decades-long East-West conflict caused many people to forget that the Soviet Union is linked with Europe not only geographically but also by virtue of its history and culture. Up to the present time it has made irreplaceable contributions to Europe's cultural heritage. The works of Wassily Kandinsky and Dimitri Shostakovich belong to all Europeans. The novels of Alexander Soltsenitsyn and Boris Pasternak not only reflect moving chapters in Europe's history but are also a commitment to humanity and to the dignity of the individual. Russian-born Marc Chagall, with such magnificent works as the church windows in Mainz and Metz, has built bridges of art between the European nations. Through them he personifies perhaps more than anyone else Europe's Christian-Jewish traditions. Two years ago Russia celebrated the 1,000th anniversary of its christianization. We were reminded once again that this great nation shares with us the spiritual foundation from which sprung the belief in the inalienable dignity of every individual. That nation's historical and cultural affinity with Europe has a long tradition. Now, at long last, it can again bear fruit politically, too, for the good of Europe's future. One framework for this is the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe which, as the East-West confrontation diminishes, can become an important instrument of pan-European cooperation. It will be a question of developing new permanent forms of cooperation on the basis of complete equality-irrespective of a country's size or economic strength. Another framework is the Council of Europe, which must be used to a greater extent as an instrument of cooperation across the whole of Europe. It symbolizes perhaps more than any other institution the unity of Europe in the spirit of human rights. Today and in the future, German-Soviet relations must serve the aim of all Europeans to build in free self-determination a Europe enjoying freedom, peace and justice. Within this European framework we also have the chance to develop a new epoch in our bilateral relations. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. That marks the beginning of the most terrible and most painful chapter in relations between Germans and Russians and the other peoples of the Soviet Union. We have not forgotten the millions of victims, the unspeakable suffering, or the incalculable destruction. I wrote the following to President Gorbachev on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the ending of the war: "At the time when the peoples of the Soviet Union, too, are about to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War, I wish to assure you and your fellow-citizens that we share in your mourning for the millions of victims which that terrible war claimed in your country. We Germans, too, include them in our thoughts and extend our sympathy to the mourning families. We Germans have learned from that bitter chapter in our history and drawn the consequences. At this particular time, so important to us Germans, as we proceed to national unity, due not least to the understanding we reached in Moscow, I wish to repeat: We want Germany to be a source of peace only." Last week President Gorbachev replied as follows: "In coming decades the political climate in Europe will in many respects depend on the decisions we will take. I start from our mutual willingness to proceed in such a way that by creating a basis of a new quality we shall ease our peoples' path into the next century." The development of our relationship with the Soviet Union requires a special sense of historical responsibility and far-sighted political creativity. We Germans therefore abide by our undertaking to respect the legitimate security interests of all European nations, especially those of the Soviet Union. By the same token I abide by the guiding principles which I presented to the Bundestag in February following my meeting with President Gorbachev: - The history of this century shows that nothing is more detrimental to stability than a Germany vacillating between two worlds, between East and West. - And vice versa: Germany firmly anchored with other free democracies in a European Community which is becoming increasingly integrated both politically and economically is the indispensable stability factor which Europe needs at its centre. The termination of Germany's division and the membership of a united Germany in NATO are also in the Soviet Union's interest. Both enhance stability and security throughout Europe. We now have a chance to initiate a new phase of European history, a phase in which confrontation is superseded by cooperation, in which the nations of Europe will find security only through solidarity. For the Soviet Union, too, this means a breakthrough to a new "quality of security" which can never be achieved by maintaining massive armed forces. The solution of the problems to be discussed in the "two plus four" talks will also depend in the next few months on the success of the various negotiations concerned with the shaping of a pan-European security architecture: First, there is the question of reshaping the Alliances themselves. The Warsaw Pact recently appointed a commission to prepare by the autumn for its transformation into a treaty organization of sovereign, equal member states based on democratic principles. We welcome this break with the past and hope for results commensurate with the radical changes that have taken place. The Atlantic Alliance will already be adopting far-reaching resolutions at the summit meeting in London in early July, along the lines proposed by President Bush. They will redefine the future role, the strategy and the military structure of the Alliance. Thus we too are drawing conclusions from the political and military changes taking place in nearly all Warsaw Pact countries. And we aim to strengthen the political nature of the Alliance and reduce its military strength. In addition, our key political task will be to adopt a common declaration of the allies' intention to shape their relationship with the members of the Warsaw Pact in the light of future requirements and to prepare the ground for a renunciation of force covering the whole of Europe. I have therefore proposed that the members of both alliances consider adopting a non-aggression pact within the CSCE framework. Such an agreement should then be open for accession by all other CSCE participants. Disarmament and arms control are the second area in which we should seek progress and success as we advance towards German unity. This applies especially to the Vienna negotiations on conventional forces in Europe. A first agreement in Vienna must be completed in time for the CSCE special summit in November. I was therefore pleased to note that President Bush and President Gorbachev were agreed on this at their summit meeting in Washington. There is general agreement that the negotiations in Vienna should also cover the armed forces of a united Germany and of the other participating states. In view of the conditions prevailing at the end of the 20th century, however, security in Europe can no longer be defined merely in terms of military balance, of counting weapons and personnel. The third pillar of the pan-European security structure is economic cooperation, for Europe's continuing integration as a result of trade and economic cooperation develops confidence and increases stability. Hence we are also making an indispensable contribution to European security if we, today as the Federal Republic of Germany and tomorrow as the united Germany, offer our neighbours in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe comprehensive cooperation in the fields of industry, science and technology. We must especially be prepared to offer advice and help towards self-help as they introduce reforms to establish political pluralism, the rule of law, and a market economy system - if they so wish. In view of its magnitude, we Germans cannot accomplish this task alone, of course. We need the cooperation of as many Western partners as possible. I have therefore written to all of them asking them to discuss this matter at the meeting of the European Council in Dublin at the beginning of next week, and at the World Economic Summit in Houston at the beginning of July. Those meetings should send out a signal for not only political but economic cooperation. We Germans are prepared to make our contribution. We are also prepared to place our political relations with the Soviet Union on a broader contractual basis following the unification of Germany. And not least we must lay solid foundations for the future security architecture of the whole of Europe. These foundations should not supersede but complement proven institutions. We aim to create pan-European institutions within the framework of the CSCE. All sides have submitted proposals to this effect. It is now time to put them together in a way leading to concrete solutions. We are on the road to solving the problems that lie ahead together with all our partners in East and West. We are all confident that we can accomplish the task in time. President Gorbachev informed me a few days ago that he shares this view. The Federal Government and I personally will not waste any time. We will seize every opportunity that leads to this goal. The hopes of many people and nations are linked with the overcoming of the division of Germany and Europe. On the threshold of the 21st century the agenda contains many items which require the combined efforts of all free nations. Together we must work to create a world in which life in all its forms is respected. The tasks involved can only be accomplished through international cooperation. In this connection the partnership between Europe and America is indispensable. So too is the contribution of all nations in Europe, including the Soviet Union. The unification of Germany and Europe moves closer. If you, the Members of Parliament, today - approve the Treaty with the German Democratic Republic establishing a Monetary, Economic and Social Union, as well as - the resolution before you on the final course of the border between the united Germany and the Republic of Poland, we shall have completed another important stage on the road to that goal. Let us never forget: The opportunity that presents itself in these next few months also places us under obligation in an unprecedented manner. I call upon you and all Germans to meet that obligation. Statement by Herr Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, during the debate in the German Bundestag on 21 June 1990 Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today's session of the German Bundestag focuses in a unique way on the preamble to our Basic Law. Our constitution requires us to preserve our national and political unity, to serve the peace of the world as an equal partner in a united Europe, and to achieve in free self-determination the unity and freedom of Germany. The Treaty establishing a Monetary, Economic and Social Union is a significant step on the road to the political unification of Germany. We in the Federal Republic of Germany must now show how capable we are of unity. Are we prepared to adjust to people who, already at this stage, are bringing a totally different experience into the unification process? Unification also includes the solidarity of all Germans, not their development into two separate communities, one jealous of the other. Haven't the Germans in the GDR helped carry our burden? German unity must be more than the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in East Germany. German unity has a democratic, a liberal, a historic, a cultural and a moral dimension. If German unification is to be a gain for the whole of Europe it must be more than the economic extension of the European Community to the East. We are not impetuously forcing things but acting responsibly when, rather than leaving as much time as possible between economic and political unity, we keep it as short as our responsibility for internal developments, and for the external aspects, will allow. Nor is German unification an exclusively German affair. It is inseparably linked with developments in Europe. To remove it from the European context would be just as dangerous as any unjustified postponement of German unity, for that would mean the postponement of European unification as well. It is not national exuberance that brings us Germans together but the desire for unity inherent in every nation, and our awareness of our common responsibility for our own and for Europe's future. The establishment of monetary, economic and social union is, like the country's political unification, tied up with the external aspects of German unification. Unification will take place when the German Democratic Republic accedes, of its own accord, to the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance with Article 23 of the Basic Law. Article 23 of our constitution provides for accession, not annexation. The decision on whether to apply that provision is in the hands of the GDR, not the Federal Republic. It is East Germany's own sovereign decision and the people there are insisting upon it. In both its Treaty with the Soviet Union signed in Moscow and in the Basic Treaty with the GDR, the Federal Republic of Germany reaffirmed its political objective of working for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will recover its unity in free self-determination. This attachment of German unification to the process of peace in Europe has determined German foreign policy from the beginning. And it is standing the test in this crucial year 1990 too. The resolutions to be adopted today by the German Bundestag and the Volkskammer express the will of the freely elected German parliaments that, following the unification of Germany, the course of the German-Polish frontier should be finally sealed by an international treaty. It is the boundary line drawn in the treaties and agreements of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The formal communication of this resolution by the Federal Government, also as a declaration of intent, and correspondingly by the Government of the German Democratic Republic, is the strongest possible commitment to the Polish people. Even in the Treaty of Warsaw (signed in 1970) the Federal Republic of Germany and the then Polish People's Republic declared that they had no territorial claims whatsoever against each other and that they would not assert such claims in the future. The German-Polish frontier is definitive. As the Federal Chancellor said, that is the message from both German parliaments to the Polish people. The treaty we intend to conclude after German unification will make that message binding under international law. The Treaty of Warsaw represented the Federal Republic's determination to break the vicious circle of injustice compounded by further injustice in order to open the way to a peaceful order in Europe as proposed by the Western Alliance as early as 1967 in the Harmel Report. The Treaty of Warsaw should help establish a lasting foundation for peaceful coexistence and for the consolidation of peace and security in Europe. We know that nothing has been or will be surrendered by the Federal Republic of Germany or any of its governments that was not lost long before - lost by a criminal war and a criminal system. We also realize - and this includes all those who have lost their homeland - that great injustice has been done to the Polish people by Germans and in the name of Germany. Those particularly affected by the frontier drawn as a consequence of the war are those who had to bear the greater burden of our history because they have lost their native regions. Despite their sorrow they have not allowed themselves to be led astray politically. One of the reasons why we can now look back on 40 years of freedom and democracy is that the expulsion and flight of those people, that the suffering of injustice, has not given rise to a fresh wave of nationalism or new radicalism. That is the irreplaceable contribution which particularly the refugees and expellees have made to democracy and to making the German people capable of peace. This contribution must be mentioned in connection with the part they played, in both parts of the country, in the reconstruction of Germany. No one can escape his emotions on such an occasion. Not even those who have long been convinced that the frontier is unalterable, who have long been convinced of the need for its international recognition, and who have been saying so for many years, not superficially and without concern, but out of a sense of responsibility for German-Polish relations and peace in Europe, and out of a sense of responsibility towards those affected who have a right to be told the plain truth. In discussing the joint resolution on the German-Polish frontier we should on such an occasion as this not forget those Germans who live in Poland. We want them to know that the new European order we are seeking and the new relationship we desire with Poland will also enable them to live their own lives and preserve their identity in the places where they live, in a Europe based on freedom and democracy. The resolutions of the German Bundestag and the Volkskammer will create one of the prerequisites for settling the external aspects of German unification. Without the finality of the Oder-Neisse frontier there will be no peace in Europe, and without peace no German unity. Both the Treaty of Warsaw and today's resolution demonstrate in a particularly impressive manner the fact that Germany's fate is linked up with the fate of Europe. Without the treaties of Warsaw and Moscow, without the treaty with Czechoslovakia and the Basic Treaty with the German Democratic Republic, the Final Act of Helsinki would not have become possible. And without the CSCE process it would not have been possible gradually to develop towards a situation in Central and Eastern Europe in which Mr Gorbachev's liberating policy could open the way to human rights and democracy. Recognition of Poland's existing Western frontier is the German contribution to the establishment of a peaceful order in Europe . It manifests our desire for good-neighbourly relations between the Germans and Poles, and for much more. The Germans want nothing more than to live in unity and in peace and friendship with all nations of Europe. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, It becomes particularly clear in this fateful year following last year's revolution for freedom that German unification is not creating new problems in Europe, that it is indeed settling a serious problem, not only for the Germans but for the whole of Europe. This is proved by the encouraging developments throughout Europe. The division of Germany into two states was the dramatic symbol of the Cold War and the unification of Germany will be the key which will speed up the creation of a one, free Europe. It is after all no coincidence that European Union is just now on the agenda of the European Community. German unification is becoming the catalyst for European unification. The European Union is taking shape but it will only be a part of the one Europe, a part of the European confederation stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals which we now want to establish. Both processes, unification within the European Community and the unification of the whole of Europe, must not drive us apart but bring us together. Western European unification must not be separated from pan-European unification. German unification fulfills a key, historic function in this link. It must be the ferment for removing the old power structures and ideologies of post-war Europe, the ferment for bringing Western, Central and Eastern Europe together into an ever closer network of integration and cooperation spanning the whole of Europe. A CSCE summit conference is due to take place in the autumn. What still seemed doubtful only a few months ago is now accepted by all 35 states. We would like to see that conference incorporate the right to democracy and free elections, as well as the rights of minorities, in the Final Act of Helsinki. It will create new institutions which will open the way to new pan-European structures, including cooperative security structures. We are aware that this larger, whole Europe can only preserve its stability through the continuing membership of the United States and Canada in the Western Alliance and through their participation in the CSCE process. And we are also aware that stability today is more than military balance. To us stability is comprehensive, embracing the political, security, economic and ecological aspects. Who would speak of security in Europe without bearing in mind Europe's environmental insecurity? This single Europe with a peaceful order cannot be created without the inclusion, not to say against the will, of the Soviet Union. Its full incorporation in the process of unification spanning the whole of Europe is in the interest of all CSCE participating states, not only of the Soviet Union itself. Any responsible policy towards this vast country with its huge problems, but also with its tremendous possibilities, must start from its integration rather than isolation. We are living on the same continent. Mr Gorbachev has opened up his country towards the West, towards Europe. This requires a European response, which can only be: inclusion of the Soviet Union in every kind of political, economic, ecological and technological cooperation in Europe. Europe's economic development within a free continent cannot remain detached from economic developments in the Soviet Union. Tensions can also arise from differences in economic conditions. Ladies and Gentlemen, In pursuing unification we can understand the Soviet Union's desire to live in security. This will be taken into account in the Vienna negotiations where the question of the military strength of a united Germany is concerned. And there are other possibilities of responding to this security interest. The merging of the two parts of Germany offers us Germans a historic opportunity. Our central position can have a positive influence. German unification must become a contribution towards the creation of a united Europe. Germany not as a source of European discord, not as a source of power politics, but Germany side by side with France and firmly anchored in a democratic community showing the way to the whole Europe. German unification not as a reflection of national self-centredness with empty pathos but showing responsibility for Europe as part of Europe. We are pledged to follow this ideal European path to German unity and to German self-determination. Resolution on the German-Polish Frontier adopted by the German Bundestag on 21 June 1990 The German Bundestag, - conscious of its responsibility in the light of German and European history, - firmly resolved to help achieve in free self-determination the unity and freedom of Germany so that Germany will serve the peace and freedom of the world as an equal partner in a united Europe based on the rule of law and respect for human rights, - anxious to make a contribution through German unity to the development of a peaceful order in Europe in which frontiers no longer divide, which enables all European nations to live together in mutual trust and engage in comprehensive cooperation for the common benefit, and which ensures lasting peace, freedom and stability, - conscious of the terrible suffering inflicted on the Polish people through crimes perpetrated by Germans and in the name of Germany, - conscious of the great injustice done to millions of Germans who have been expelled from their native regions, - desiring that a united Germany and the Republic of Poland, mindful of the tragic and painful chapters of history, systematically continue the policy of understanding and reconciliation between Germans and Poles, shape their relations with a view to the future and thus set an example of good-neighbourliness, - convinced that special importance attaches to the young generation's commitment to reconciliation of the two nations, - expecting the freely elected People's Chamber of the GDR to issue simultaneously an identical declaration, expresses its will that the course of the frontier between the united Germany and the Republic of Poland be definitively confirmed, by a treaty under international law, as follows: The course of the frontier between the united Germany and the Republic of Poland shall be as specified in the "Agreement between the German Democratic Republic and the Polish Republic concerning the Demarcation of the Established and Existing German-Polish State Frontier" of 6 July 1950 as well as the accords implementing and supplementing the aforementioned agreement (Treaty of 22 May 1989 between the German Democratic Republic and the Polish People's Republic on the Delimitation of the Sea Areas in the Oder Bay; Instrument of 27 January 1951 confirming the Demarcation of the State Frontier between Germany and Poland) and in the "Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Polish People's Republic concerning the Basis for Normalizing their Mutual Relations" of 7 December 1970. The two sides reaffirm the inviolability of the frontier existing between them now and in the future and undertake to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity without restriction. The two sides declare that they have no territorial claims whatsoever against each other and that they will not assert such claims in the future. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is formally called upon to communicate this resolution to the Republic of Poland as the expression of its will.