Top Bonn Diplomat Gives Bush a Piece of the Wall

West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, at the White House for a preview of the Malta summit, gave President Bush a brick from the Berlin Wall on Tuesday as a symbol of the growing strength of democracy in Eastern Europe.

After meeting with the President and Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Genscher said he had been assured that the United States will continue to support the wave of reform sweeping across Poland, Hungary and East Germany.

“It is in the interest of the West that the reform policy in the Eastern European states . . . may be carried out successfully and without any hindrance from our side,” he said. He added that if the West tries to take advantage of the changes, it may undermine the reform effort.

Bush, in a brief appearance before reporters in the Oval Office, said he would treasure the piece of the Berlin Wall, which was broken away earlier this month after the East German authorities relaxed their once-Draconian travel regulations. During his trip to Hungary last summer, the President was given a piece of barbed wire from the now-dismantled Hungary-Austria border fence.

Genscher declared, “The wall now is open, and the German Democratic Republic is on the way, really, to becoming a democratic republic.”

Turning directly to Bush, he said: “I would like to express, Mr. President, our great gratitude for the support, the help and the firmness of the American nation in the past decades--in good times, but also in difficult times.”

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the focus of Bush’s meeting with Genscher was on next month’s Malta meeting between Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

At his news conference, Genscher hailed the changes that have taken place in East Germany and sought to reassure those who fear West Germany’s growing economic and political power.

“The Germans in (East Germany) have shown such a high amount of dignity, and of soberness, and of responsibility,” he said. “We think that this commitment by all Germans to freedom and democracy is an enrichment for the whole of Europe. . . . Freedom and democracy have never been a threat to anyone.”

Almost forgotten in the euphoria of Eastern European reform was the controversy over proposed modernization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s short-range nuclear missile force. Bonn objects to the project because most of the missiles would be stationed on West German soil, positioned to hit targets in East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia or Hungary.

The relaxed tensions in the area have increased speculation that the weapons will not be built. However, Genscher deflected questions on the issue, saying that NATO has agreed to make a final decision in 1992 and that there is no need to talk about the matter before then.