THE WALL CRUMBLES : Bush Sheds His Caution, Citing Proof of Reform : Policy: The President sees next month’s summit with Gorbachev as even more significant.

Shedding the cautious tone he adopted only a day earlier, President Bush said Friday that East Germany’s decision to open its borders proves that the force of political reform in Eastern Europe is real and “deserves our continued encouragement.”

Speaking to the National Assn. of Realtors in Dallas, Bush said that his Mediterranean summit with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev next month “takes on even more importance than when I conceived the idea.”

“We’re living in fascinating times,” the President said, “and we will seize every opportunity to contribute to lasting peace and to extend democracy. And in doing so, I will conduct the foreign policy of this great country with the prudence that these fascinating times--times of change--demand, and with imagination.”

Bush’s comments were considerably less measured than his earlier observations about events in East Germany. And they underscored the importance of the summit at sea on warships off the island of Malta on Dec. 2 and 3.

When the Administration announced plans for the Bush-Gorbachev meeting a week ago, White House officials called it a preliminary get-together rather than a negotiating session intended to produce substantive decisions.

The President did not elaborate on his comment that events in East Germany and the rest of Eastern Europe would make the summit more important. But Secretary of State James A. Baker III said that Bush and Gorbachev will “share respective viewpoints” on the fast-developing situation.

Baker, interviewed on the ABC-TV program “Good Morning, America,” added, “The purpose of this pre-summit meeting between President Gorbachev and President Bush is not to sit around a table and talk about dividing up in any way Eastern Europe or the future of Eastern Europe.”

Major Impact

Even so, it seems unlikely that the superpower leaders could conduct face-to-face talks without either adopting joint measures to assure stability in Eastern Europe or failing to do so. Either way, the summit would have a major impact on the region.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said that Bush spoke by telephone Friday with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He said the two men had said the Mediterranean meeting has taken on added significance and that they had agreed to consult closely in the weeks preceding the session.

“Bush should be very careful at the summit not to sign anything that his staff hasn’t parsed thoroughly,” said George Carver, who was deputy CIA director when Bush headed the agency in the mid-1970s.

“Bush has to be very careful not to be mousetrapped into doing something that has not been thought through thoroughly or, conversely, to be put into a position where he appears to be the only obstructionist,” Carver said. “Bush is sitting down with a very heady chess player, a man who always thinks at least five moves ahead. We (Americans), by instinct, are not chess players.”

Since the day the Berlin Wall was built 28 years ago, U.S. officials have been demanding its destruction. But Administration officials now acknowledge that they are unprepared to deal with such sudden and dramatic success.

“Were we surprised by the speed of it?” Baker asked. “You bet your life. And so was everybody else, as far as I can determine. I don’t know anybody who’s suggested that they predicted this was going to happen.”

As a result, the Administration is struggling to devise a new strategy toward Eastern Europe. So far, U.S. policy-makers have taken a very cautious approach, with Bush warning that the possibility still exists of a crackdown on the reform movements by the region’s Communist governments.

Everyone Surprised

In an interview with a small group of reporters Thursday, Bush spoke of the “dramatic happening” in Eastern Europe and said that he is “elated.” But he appeared reluctant to assess whether the reform effort will indeed be lasting. Friday’s remarks indicated that the Administration’s skepticism is waning.

“The changes in recent months make clear that the process of reform initiated by the East Europeans and supported by Mr. Gorbachev and by America and by our allies is real, offers us all much hope (and) deserves our continued encouragement,” Bush said.

Later, in a speech at a political fund-raising dinner in Dallas, Bush seemed to back off a bit.

“Of course, we all look now with hope in our hearts at the amazing changes in Eastern Europe--indeed in the Soviet Union itself--with encouragement and hope,” he said. “Yet this country must not and cannot base its foreign policy or its national security on the aspirations of one man inside the Soviet Union, or anywhere else.”

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney added a note of caution in an interview with the Associated Press. “The opening of the (Berlin) wall, it’s a major event, but it’s important for us to think about what comes after that,” Cheney said. “We need to digest these changes. Clearly we welcome them, but we have to be a little reserved about formulating major policy shifts until we have an opportunity to see what happens.”

Nevertheless, the Administration is coming under increasing pressure to take some action to reinforce the process of change.

The Administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress already have agreed that the United States should provide economic aid to the reformist governments in Poland and Hungary, although they have haggled over the proper amount. It seems likely that the U.S. government will at least consider extending assistance to East Germany as well.

Some non-government experts are urging Bush to take steps that would support Gorbachev’s Soviet reforms and reward him for permitting dramatic changes in Poland, Hungary and East Germany.

“One should realize that the Soviets are quite serious,” said Yahia Zoubir, professor of international relations at American University in Washington. “What they have allowed in East Germany proves their sincerity. If we want to help Gorbachev, it’s the time to do it. The Soviets have done all that they can do.”

California Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), interviewed on NBC-TV’s “Today Show,” expressed similar sentiments. “I think we need to give tangible expressions of our support (to Gorbachev),” Lantos said. “Without Gorbachev, what we are seeing at the Berlin Wall would not be taking place.”

Baker, interviewed on Cable News Network, agreed that East Germany would not have opened its borders “had the Soviets not tacitly approved it or called for it or welcomed it.” But Baker stopped short of suggesting a conciliatory gesture from the West. Instead, he called on East Germany to follow up its relaxation of travel rules by conducting “open and free and fair democratic elections.”

Kempster reported from Washington and Gerstenzang from Dallas.