Hungary Rebuffs E. Germany on Emigres

As strained relations between the two nations continued Thursday, Hungary issued an unapologetic reply to East Germany’s protest over its decision to allow thousands of East German citizens to emigrate to the West.

The formal response to the East German protest came in a stiff but carefully argued letter presented to the East German ambassador at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry here Thursday afternoon.

The letter repeated the Hungarian assertion that the problem over the East German refugees ultimately must be settled in negotiations between East and West Germany. It added that Hungary will stand firm in its decision to keep its borders open, at least temporarily, to East Germans who want to emigrate to the West.

Most significantly, however, the Hungarians cited their agreement to the final document of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, signed in Vienna in January, as the basis for the decision to open the borders.

By citing that agreement, which was also signed by East Germany, the Hungarians were asserting that their commitment to international agreements has taken priority over bilateral treaties with their socialist neighbors.

Since the Hungarian government gave the green light at midnight Sunday, at least 12,000 East Germans have crossed into Austria and on to West Germany.

After nearly 10,000 made the trek, by car and bus, in the first 24 hours, the flow of immigrants slackened considerably, but as many as 100 people per hour were reported crossing at one Austrian border post Thursday.

The Hungarian Interior Ministry estimates that there are still about 60,000 East Germans in Hungary, a popular summer holiday destination for East Germans. However, ministry spokesmen say they have no idea how many of those might be intending to go to the West.

Hundreds Gather

About 250 to 300 East Germans, most of them young and many of them carrying bulging backpacks and duffel bags, were gathered Thursday at the center run by the Maltese Cross humanitarian service at the Holy Family Church in the Buda hills. Wolfgang Wagner, director of the operation, said 150 were expected to leave by bus for the border later in the day.

“They have been coming at the rate of between 250 and 300 a day for the last two days,” Wagner said. “We are not sure how much longer it will go on, but the number seems steady.”

The exodus was prompted, in part, by Hungary’s decision in May to begin dismantling barriers on its western border with Austria.

The letter to the East German government made it clear that Hungary’s solution to the East German refugee problem was taken reluctantly and only after it urged both Germanys to come to an agreement.

“This had become a serious problem for the Hungarian nation, and it had to be solved,” the letter said.

The Hungarians stressed that their decision is temporary but added that “since the decision was taken, the problem has not been alleviated, and therefore the Hungarian government will continue to act according to its decision.”

The East Germans protested Tuesday that Hungary abrogated a 1969 agreement that obligated both sides to return to their country of origin any citizens attempting to escape to the West.

The Hungarians countered, in the Foreign Ministry’s letter Thursday, by adopting the principle that the accords signed in Vienna in January take precedence over the 1969 treaty.

Hungarian diplomatic sources said Thursday that they were aware, when the decision was taken in May to remove travel restrictions, that the problem with East Germany would soon follow.

But the decision, they indicated, was a carefully calculated move aimed at distancing the country from its hard-line Communist commitments of the past and pressing its opening to the West.