UN General Assembly
1973

9. Certainly, starting from that part of Europe which has been the source of so many tensions, we have initiated and developed a policy of understanding which was, and still is, to fill in the rifts left behind by the cold war. 10. We have, I feel, seen in the meantime that not only tensions but also detente can be contagious. 11. As the Federal Republic of Germany we shall-as our Foreign Minister emphasized here last week in internationally binding terms [2119th meeting] -seek to create a state of peace in Europe in which the German people also can regain their unity in free self-determination. I say this knowing very well-with all respect — that the United Nations cannot really help us in this matter. 12. The two German States, belonging as they do to different political groupings and facing the problems resulting there from, have learned that their interrelationship is today of greater importance than what is known as the "national question". This applies to Europe in general.