E. German Leader to Make W. German Visit
East German President Erich Honecker will make his long-delayed visit to West Germany, probably some time after the Communist Party Congress in April, the head of the East German Parliament said Friday.
Horst Sindermann, president of the Volkskammer, or parliament, made the announcement in a joint statement issued on the third day of his four-day visit to Bonn.
Sindermann told a news conference that the 73-year-old Honecker, who is also general secretary of the East German Communist Party, gave no date for the visit.
“Of course the visit of Erich Honecker will take place. But the time must be agreed between Chancellor (Helmut) Kohl and Honecker. I am not a harbinger (of a Honecker visit) and I was not sent here to set a date,” Sindermann said.
Honecker at the last minute canceled a planned visit to Bonn in September, 1984, and West German officials blamed pressure from the Soviet Union. The cancellation came at a low point in Soviet-West relations.
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