Czechoslovakia Expected to Keep Border Open

This hard-line Communist nation opened its border for thousands of East Germans to journey to the West and was expected to keep it open until East Berlin adopts a new law liberalizing foreign travel.

In contrast with Budapest’s unilateral decision two months ago to let East Germans travel across the Hungarian frontier with Austria, Prague and East Berlin agreed to let the refugees go straight to West Germany, the state news agency CTK reported.

The decision came after 5,000 East Germans crammed into Bonn’s embassy in Prague, the third such incident this fall.

Four thousand who took refuge in the embassy over the past week went to West Germany in four special trains Saturday.

About 800 more were due to leave on a fifth train and another 800 traveled across in their own cars.

An embassy spokesman asked all others trying to leave East Germany to go straight from the East German-Czechoslovak border to the open frontier between Czechoslovakia and West Germany.

East Germany on Friday waived the normal processing of travel documents to allow the exodus via its southern Warsaw Pact neighbor.

The East German Embassy in Prague told the West German mission that Czechoslovakia had agreed to keep the border open until travel reforms are adopted, the spokesman said.

Hundreds more East Germans jammed trains to Czechoslovakia on Saturday.