Bush and Kohl Begin Talks on Reunification

President Bush and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl began two days of talks Saturday on how to guide the unification of Germany in ways that will make it a force for peace and security in Europe.

The meeting began without fanfare. Immediately after Kohl arrived at Dulles Airport, following a nine-hour flight from Bonn, he was whisked by Marine helicopter to the presidential retreat here.

U.S. officials said they do not expect the meeting to produce any specific decisions about the problems involved in the anticipated unification of East and West Germany after 45 years of separation.

The specifics of the new Germany’s shape and character are expected to emerge from the “two-plus-four” process, which envisions the two German states working out the internal mechanics of unification, then joining the four World War II Allies--the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France--to discuss the effects of the merger on the security of Europe.

However, U.S. officials said, the drive toward unity has been moving at a breakneck pace that has outstripped the Bush Administration’s ability to stay current with official German thinking through normal consultative channels. For that reason, they said, Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III felt it was important to talk at the highest level.

On the other side, Kohl wants the blessing of the United States, West Germany’s most important ally, to strengthen his hand both in the international and domestic German political arenas.

Officials on both sides said the other main topics will involve keeping the unified Germany anchored in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization without reawakening Soviet fears of future German aggression, dealing with the possibility of a substantial Soviet military presence remaining in what is now East Germany and sorting out the complex array of legal questions stemming from four-power control of Berlin.

The two leaders will hold a joint news conference here today before Kohl’s return home.