Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-05
Bonn's Pledge

rUTGlSIlsMlIllSIeFr6 1e1IlI1CIl Won bFGu-
tano, in making his debut before the
lower house of the Bonn Parliament, has
given voice to an eloquent pledge. The
pledge is that Chancellor Adenauer's gov
eminent will not let the men of the
Kremlin lead it down any primrose path
that would separate 1t from the free
Western world and thus push the German
people toward disaster.
What DR.. Won Brentano has said is
diplomatic relations recently established
between Bonn and Moscow. It is equally
significant because of the Krenlin's OBJ
viouS effort to parade its puppet regime
in East Germany as sovereign" state
an effort calculated to force the Adenauer
government to recognize the Legitimacy"
of that regime and negotiate with it. And
to that end, of course, the Soviet Union,
in rejecting our country's protest against
the gunpoint detention of two American
Congressman in the Russian-controlled
sector of Berlin, has now proclaimed
despite Horsepower agreements to the
contrary-that the sector will henceforth
be under the Jurisdiction and control of
the German Reds. The German Reds, in
turn, have begun to hamper the flow of
Berlin's barge traffic and make other
threatening gestures in new war Of
nerves.
It is against this background that
Dr. Won Brentano has stressed several
important points. The first Of these is
that Bonn will continue to regard East
~ ,xysr ,sc% cfn
setup that comes close to system of
slavery" And he has gone on from there
to declare, logically and emphatically,
that the Adenauer government will never
do business with 1t or "be induced by any
threat or temptation to veer from this
straight course" "a, course that rules out
deal with the Russians that would jeop-
ardize Germany's future freedom as
reunited nation. And the basic reason
for such a firm policy is that "the fate
of the German people would be sealed"
catastrophically, If they withdrew from
the Atlantic community and tried to, ex-
change the Confidence and friendship"
of their allies for empty Soviet promises.
DR.. Won Brentano thus has left no
room for doubt as to where Bonn stands
under the Adenauer government. The
policy is as clear as 1t is resolute. AS
has put it, the divided East and West
Germans must be reunited with an un-
questioned understanding on Russia'S
part that both belong to the free world
indissolubly +. There exists one, and
only one, genuine and convincing form Of
alderman talks-namely, free elections.
Their result would prove to the entire
world that the German nation in all its
parts pledges itself to the cause of democ-
racy, freedom and cooperation" And he
has significantly added that "as long as
the Soviet Union proceeds on the assump-
ton of the partition of Germany !. there
will be no normal relations" between
Moscow and Bonn.
Needless to say, thiT is position that
must be thoroughly displeasing to the
men of the Kremlin. But it unquestion-
ably reflects the heartfelt opinion of the
overwhelming majority on both sides of
the Iron Curtain In Germany, and sooner
or later, If we are ever to have decent
peace and true European security, it must
be accepted by the Soviets as the indis-
pensable basis for German reunification.