Shultz Urges Firm Stand on Berlin Rights

Foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and West Germany met here Wednesday night to devise a strategy to thwart what U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz called an illegal attempt by East Germany to nibble away at allied rights in Berlin.

“We cannot tolerate having a sector line converted into an international border,” Shultz said. “We intended to press our rights in that situation.”

The latest dispute, over rules so arcane that even U.S. diplomats privately refer to them as “Berlin theology,” erupted last week when East Germany announced that it would require diplomats to show passports when crossing from East Berlin to West Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie or other openings in the Berlin Wall.

Although the wall is one of the most formidable frontier barriers in the world, the Western allies maintain that it has no legal status. Under the terms of Germany’s surrender after World War II, Berlin was divided into U.S., British, French and Soviet sectors. Although the Soviet sector was soon converted into East Berlin and the sectors of the three Western allies into West Berlin, the accords guarantee diplomats free access to all parts of the city.

Key to Recognition

A U.S. official said that although the argument seems abstract, it is very important to the East German regime, which is waging an uphill battle to obtain full international recognition.

In the last few days, U.S., French and British officials have crossed the checkpoints frequently to test the issue and so far, East Germany has not tried to impose the new rules on them. But the Communist border guards have challenged some other diplomats, in violation of the Western interpretation of the postwar agreements.

In East Berlin, North Atlantic Treaty Organization ambassadors met Wednesday at the West German mission to discuss the new checks. In addition, a political officer of the U.S. headquarters in West Berlin went to the Soviet Embassy in East Berlin to discuss the situation, U.S. spokesman Thomas Homan said. The results of the meeting were not announced.

“We’ll talk about our diplomatic strategy,” Shultz said of the U.S.-British-French-West German meeting, held over dinner the night before the opening of the annual spring foreign ministers meeting of NATO. “It is a good opportunity to share views and decide on a common plan.”

Added Significance

The four-power dinner is a regular fixture of NATO meetings, but this one took on added significance because it was the first high-level allied meeting since the East Germans announced their new rules.

A senior U.S. official said the United States sees the meeting as an opportunity to solidify Western resolve to resist the East German maneuver.

East Germany insists that the new regulations are intended to prevent the passage of terrorists from the Eastern to the Western sectors of the city. In that way it is a response to U.S. complaints that East Germany permitted Libyan terrorists to infiltrate West Berlin and plant a lethal bomb at a West Berlin night club that killed two people, including an off-duty U.S. soldier, injured more than 200 and provoked the U.S. air raid on Tripoli and Benghazi.

“We’ve been all over the East Germans to increase security,” the U.S. official said. “They saw their opportunity and they took it.”

Looks for Targets

The official said East Germany regularly looks for such targets of opportunity to increase the range of its authority.

Until the East Germans back down, the official said, Western nations must “send people across in waves--you pack a lunch and take portable toilets and be prepared to wait.”

Talking to reporters aboard the U.S. Air Force jetliner that brought him to Halifax, Shultz said the United States has protested the new East German rules to the Soviet Union. The Western allies do not recognize East German sovereignty in Berlin and, therefore, address all issues relating to the divided city to the Soviets.

Shultz said the Soviet decision this week to permit 117 Soviet citizens to join family members in the United States will “improve the atmosphere” of East-West relations. But he said the United States has no intention of making any sort of reciprocal gesture.

Shultz Scoffs

He scoffed at “the expectation that we will go along with things (advocated by Moscow) for the sake of the atmosphere.” European members of NATO frequently have expressed just such expectations.

Nevertheless, Shultz said he expects Washington and Moscow to “find our way back to a high-level dialogue.” The Soviets canceled a scheduled meeting between Shultz and Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze after the U.S. strike against Libya.

“The Soviets have said our challenge to Libyan terrorism violates the spirit of Geneva,” Shultz said. “I don’t see why or how.”