U.S. Complains to Soviets on Berlin Travel

The U.S. ambassador to West Germany met Thursday with a top Soviet envoy to criticize a new rule requiring diplomats traveling between East and West Berlin to present passports, but he did not make a formal protest, sources said.

East German officials said they will stick to the rule, although they apparently are not applying it to American, French and British envoys.

U.S. Ambassador Richard R. Burt met at his West Berlin residence with the Soviet ambassador to East Germany, Vyacheslav I. Kochemasav, to discuss the policy, but he did not deliver a formal protest to the Soviet Union, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Before the rule took effect Monday, East Berlin-based diplomats had only to present identity cards when traveling between East Berlin and West Berlin.

Border Issue

East Germany has said it instituted the passport checks to thwart terrorism, but Western officials have said they fear the move is an attempt to force recognition of the Berlin Wall as an international border. The West says the wall is only a demarcation line.

“The allies have never recognized measures by the GDR (East Germany) to hamper movement among the sectors of the city,” the sources said.

The sources said that Burt spoke on behalf of the United States, France and Britain. The three countries take turns dealing with the Soviets concerning Berlin, and this month the job fell to the United States.

Berlin was divided into four zones after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The U.S., French and British zones were combined to form West Berlin, while the Soviets were made responsible for East Berlin.

West Berlin is administered by the three Western powers but run day-to-day by an elected government. The Soviet Union allowed East Germany, which surrounds the city, to declare East Berlin its capital and, in 1961, build the Berlin Wall.

Access Guaranteed

Under the Four Powers Agreement of 1971, diplomatic personnel of the four nations are guaranteed access to all parts of the city.

An East German Foreign Ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that diplomatic personnel representing the three Western powers would continue to be exempt from the passport checks. American, British and French diplomats were allowed to pass by East German guards Thursday at the Berlin Wall without complying with the new regulation.